Rubio (finally) attacks Trump. Will that matter?
Marco Rubio attacked Donald Trump and lived. Mr. Trump fumed but didn鈥檛 blow up. Ted Cruz was smooth with his own anti-Trump snipes. John Kasich repeated his emotional appeal to togetherness.
Ben Carson had fruit salad, describing humans鈥� experience with an oddly endearing metaphor, 鈥淭he fruit salad of their lives.鈥�
That about sums up the latest Republican presidential debate, held Thursday night in Houston. With Trump continuing to build a delegate lead, and Super Tuesday days ahead, Senators Rubio and Cruz needed to do something to change the dynamic of the race, and fast. Our snap reaction was that didn鈥檛 happen. But if 2016 has taught us anything, it is that voters react unpredictably to events in the race. The citizens of Texas, Georgia, and a broad swath of other mostly Southern states will answer this question on March 1 with their ballots.
Here鈥檚 a candidate-by-candidate look at last night鈥檚 debate wrangle:
Marco Rubio. Rubio advisers said beforehand that they would pass on attacking Trump. That was a fairly obvious head fake. Rubio stands alone as Trump鈥檚 biggest rival, and he has to address the front-runner directly. He did that on Thursday, aggressively taunting Trump about hiring immigrants as service workers in his hotels, instead of American citizens; manufacturing Trump-branded clothes overseas (鈥淢ake them in America!鈥� he shouted over Trump at one point); and his meandering proscriptions for replacing Obamacare.
鈥淲hat is your plan, Mr. Trump? What is your plan on health care?鈥� Rubio interjected at one point.
Donald Trump. Trump at times looked annoyed by Rubio and Cruz鈥檚 attacks. Policy details are his weak point and he appeared uninterested in countering Rubio on the specifics of such thing as his (Trump鈥檚) support for keeping the Obamacare provision requiring insurers to cover preexisting health conditions. Volume is not a Trumpian problem, however, and every time a rival began to build a critique Trump would turn up the dial, deny any of that was a problem, and say 鈥測ou鈥檙e wrong,鈥� or 鈥測ou鈥檙e a liar.鈥�
Trump just seems unfazed by personal attacks that might cause someone else to redden and explode.
鈥淭his is a lot of fun up here, I have to tell you,鈥� he said at one point.
Ted Cruz. If Rubio led the charge against Trump, Cruz was right behind him, holding Rubio鈥檚 coat and getting in a few jabs of his own. But at this point, he needs to be more than a third party, given Rubio鈥檚 rise in the polls. He seemed to recognize that later in the debate and mounted a sustained explanation of why Trump, in his view, isn鈥檛 a real conservative. Trump said it was all a lie and demanded an apology.
鈥淚 will not apologize for one minute for defending the Constitution,鈥� said Cruz, in maybe his best moment.
John Kasich. Ohio Gov. Kasich is facing increasing pressure to drop out of the race and clear the anti-Trump path for Rubio. This debate won鈥檛 cause that pressure to lessen. Kasich got only two questions in the first hour or so of the debate and seemed content to let the top three combatants slug things out.
As the debate progressed Governor Kasich came back into the conversation, though, and in the context of the 鈥淟iar!鈥� shouts seemed as substantive as a one-man think tank. He dwelt at length on the challenges of handling an aggressive, dangerous one-man regime 鈥� North Korea, where leader Kim Jong-un appears to rule by fear and fiat.
Regime change might be an option in North Korea, Kasich said.
鈥淧erhaps the Chinese can actually accomplish that with this man who is now currently the leader, but the fact is we have to bring everything to bear,鈥� Kasich said.
Ben Carson. In the latte-charged world of Republican debates, Dr. Carson can appear sleepy. That was again the case on Thursday night. Voters may respond to this kind of demeanor more kindly than do pundits. Carson鈥檚 poll numbers bumped upward after the first few candidate forums.
But that was a long time ago. At this point Carson鈥檚 candidacy seems destined for an asterisk. He did get off some of the night鈥檚 best individual comments, though. The aforementioned 鈥渇ruit salad鈥� line struck a social media chord. 鈥淭HE FRUIT SALAD OF OUR LIVES鈥� became a trending topic on Twitter as the night wore on. And at one point Carson, tired of being ignored, issued a plaintive cry for attention.
鈥淐an somebody attack me please?鈥� he said.
Nobody did.
