At around 7:00 p.m., the so-called “undercard” candidates took the stage to debate. Those candidates, Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum, are those who are trending at the low end of the polls.
At around 9:00 p.m., the seven candidates who are polling at the top will debate. They are Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich, and Rand Paul. Missing, of course, from the debate is Donald Trump. Trump indicated earlier this week that he would not attend unless Fox News removed Megyn Kelly as moderator because he believes she has been unfair to him: Fox News refused and Trump declared he would stay away.
The debate is sponsored by Fox News and Google and will be held at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa. You can watch it on Fox News; the debate will also be broadcast live on Foxnews.com. The moderators for the debate are Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, and Chris Wallace.
As before, I’ll liveblog the debate, latest news first. I know it can be hard to read after the fact but it’s easier for those following along contemporaneously (if you’re playing catch up, you can start at the bottom).
11:01 p.m. Now the pundits have their say. While they chat away, what did you think? Quite frankly, I thought it was a better debate because the candidates addressed more of the issues rather than (to quote Megyn Kelly again) “the elephant not in the room.”
10:59 p.m. It’s over! There is handshaking. Bush and Cruz are chatting. Carson is walking with his wife (a former concert violinist). Paul is giving hugs.
10:58 p.m. Cruz says the central theme in this election is “Who do you trust?” He suggests that it should be him. Asks Iowa voters to support him.
10:57 p.m. Rubio mentions the Bible, says our light has dimmed under Obama. Promises to restore our light in the world.
10:56 p.m. Carson thanks Iowa, then starts to recite the Constitution. Finishes with “Folks, it’s not too late, enough said.”
10:56 p.m. Bush is talking – really fast – about how he is a conservative who can defeat Hillary Clinton.
10:55 p.m. Christie closes by talking about his own experiences in 9/11. He says we need a strong President who will protect the country, keep the country safe.
10:54 p.m. Kasich says he’s an optimist, we should work together.
10:53 p.m. Closing statements. Paul first. He says it’s good to be back. He says he’s an eye surgeon and he misses it (did some cataracts over Christmas – what a way to spend the holidays!). He refers to himself as the “one true fiscal conservative.” Rand Paul chants break out in the room.
10:51 p.m. BREAK
Since Cruz mentioned his tax plan, here’s a great reference from Tax Foundation which compares the presidential candidates’ tax plans.
10:49 p.m. Carson is asked about his views on ethanol, renewable fuels standards. He says that standards are in place through 2022 and it would be unfair to pull the rug out from under those using those standards. He says we could get a lot accomplished if we took government out of our lives. (I am surprised he didn’t talk about this more tonight because his comments on deregulation have been well-received.)
10:46 p.m. Gov. Branstad (R-IA) has said voters would make a mistake by choosing Cruz because of his views on energy. Cruz says that Washington should not pick winners, refers voters to his tax plan on his website, uses the word “enormous” to describe the growth from his flat tax (I can’t be the only one who thinks he’s sounding a little Trump-like, right?).
10:45 p.m. Another YouTube question. Beauty blogger Nabela Noor is a Muslim. She asked about feeling safe in her own country. Bush mentions Trump, says that it’s important to be careful about our language, that we need a broader message.
10:43 p.m. Paul is asked about Bill Clinton’s behavior. Paul says he doesn’t blame Hillary Clinton for her husband’s behavior. He says that Hillary Clinton can’t be a champion for women’s rights, however, with that in the background. He also says that the Clintons accept money from regimes that treat women “like cattle.”
10:39 p.m. BREAK
Wondering about who’s on top in the race? Here’s what polls show, according to Real Clear Politics:
10:38 p.m. Christie is asked about Libya, which is described as the new ISIS stronghold. He answers by saying that Libya is another area where Clinton is not fit to be President. He says, instead, that it’s about the bigger, broader war against ISIS. He says we need a coalition to deal with ISIS.
10:34 p.m. Rubio is asked about the Iran deal. He has previously said that he would tear up the deal so he’s asked to clarify if he would still do that since the deal is already in place. He says that he would still tear up the deal and ask other countries to make a choice. Kasich has publicly differed with Rubio on this issue and is asked about that: he says he’s worried about money. He says if we don’t settle sanctions now, it will be a problem. He says we need to be prepared to step up if the deal is broken by Iran. He says we need to be prepared to bring the world together.
10:33 p.m. Carson is asked about Russia, asked to envision a future where he is President and there was a question of security in the region. Carson refers to Putin as a bully. Says we need to have more of a presence in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. He says we should give Ukraine weapons and fight Putin on oil/power.
10:30 p.m. Paul is asked about abortion and his comments regarding the fact that states should be allowed to make the decision about abortion for their own people. He says he is anti-abortion. We should have virtue, he says. (Wild applause) He’s asked again to clarify his position. He says that it should be a state issue but agrees that he has introduced a federal solution.
10:29 p.m. Rubio is asked about comments about Christie: he dodges, says folks can go to his website. Rubio instead answers the question on religion. He says we should hope that our next President should be someone who is influenced by their faith.
10:27 p.m. Christie is asked about Kim Davis refusing to do her job. He says the law needs to be followed. Just as importantly, he says, everyone has their own interpretation of faith and uses that to segue into a commentary on radical Islam (ISIS!).
10:24 p.m. Kasich is asked about his faith and whether the fact that Cruz differs with him means that Cruz won’t get into heaven (chuckles from the audience). Kasich explains his policies on Medicare, drug addicts, mentally ill. Conservative message, he says, is economic growth and opportunity for everyone.
10:23 p.m. BREAK (and yes, it feels like there are more breaks this go-round)
Twitter reaction to Christie’s comments about Clinton not getting within 10′ of the White House if he’s elected:
10:19 p.m. Ah, Bridgegate. Christie is asked if the GOP should take a chance on him with that scandal still fresh. He says yes because three investigations found that he didn’t do anything wrong. He also said he fired those who were responsible and that showed leadership. His big close? “The days of the Clintons in public housing are over.” Boo-yah!
10:17 p.m. Rubio is asked about polls in his own state, including the fact that he is trailing in Florida. He first clarifies the “savior” comment, saying that there’s only one Savior (Jesus Christ). He says that Bernie Sanders could be President of… Sweden. He also says Clinton should not be President.
10:17 p.m. Rubio says that Clinton doesn’t want to run against him but he can’t wait to run against her.
10:16 p.m. Bush is asked about attacks against other candidates and whether he should do that since polls indicate that he can’t beat Clinton. Bush says he can beat Clinton. He doesn’t apologize for the ads, saying he’s “running hard.”
10:14 p.m. Debate switches to electability. Cruz is up first. He’s asked about lack of support within the party because of his style. Cruz says that he is not the candidate of the establishment in DC. He says that the endorsements that he is most proud of are volunteers and conservative leaders (King again).
10:13 p.m. Rubio says that immigration should be merit, not family, based.
10:12 p.m. Bush interjects to say that entrepreneurs like her deserve our respect and we should be welcoming.
10:11 p.m. Another YouTube question. Dulce Candy, an immigrant from Mexico, who served in the armed forces and became a citizen and an entrepreneur. She asks about whether an anti-immigration policy might harm entrepreneurship. Carson responds… with an answer on ISIS.
10:10 p.m. Christie takes the opportunity to say the Rubio/Cruz debate is evidence that we need someone outside of Washington in office. As a governor he says, when you change your mind, you have to admit it.
10:07 p.m. Paul says Cruz has an “authenticity” problem (lots of applause). Cruz aligns Rubio with Obama in his response, says that he is on the same side as Sessions and King (I think he has said those names 3 names). Rubio’s claws are coming out: he says that Cruz is pretending to be the most conservative, saying he will say or do anything to win because he wants to “trump Trump.” Cruz, who does sound a little Trump-like when responds, “You know, I like Marco. He can be charming.”
10:04 p.m. Fox now plays clips showing Cruz saying his amendments on immigration should pass – they did not. Cruz says that the amendment had 38 words. Cruz says “we can solve immigration” (invokes Sessions twice). He says we are missing political will but he will end illegal immigration.
10:01 p.m. Bush is asked whether he thinks Rubio changed his mind. He invokes Gang of Eight, gives Rubio kudos for leading the charge on immigration but says Rubio did “cut and run” (says it more than once) on immigration. Touts his book. Rubio then responds that Bush also changed his mind, says he will bring the issue under control, which has not been done in 30 years.
9:58 p.m. Question on immigration. Fox plays clips of Rubio talking about immigration – routinely dismissing amnesty. Rubio is asked whether he has changed his mind. He says no. He says that he does not support blanket amnesty. He says that this issue needs to be solved. (Ooh, ISIS again!) He says that securing our borders is not anti-immigrant. He says that he will hire 20,000 more border agents instead of more IRS agents.
9:56 p.m. BREAK.
9:53 p.m. Rubio is asked about cap and trade and climate change. Says he is opposed to cap and trade (remains opposed). He says we can protect the environment without sacrificing the economy.
9:52 p.m. Kasich is asked about his response to the Flint, Michigan water crisis. Kasich says you have to be on top of things, go the extra mile and work with communities. He says you have to act quickly. “We work for the people, the people don’t work for us.”
9:51 p.m. Bush is asked about whether Puerto Rico should get an economic bailout. He says no. He also says that Puerto Ricans should determine whether they want to be a state (self-determination).
9:49 p.m. Cruz is asked about eliminating Obamacare. He is asked what his alternative plan should be. He says we should allow people to purchase health insurance across state lines; expand HSA and work to delink health insurance from employment (you can keep insurance if you leave your workplace).
9:48 p.m. Moving onto government spending. Christie is asked about entitlement reform: name one thing that the government can actually cut. He says sure, one that he worked on in New Jersey is cutting funding for Planned Parenthood (not a great deal of applause).
9:45 p.m. BREAK
If you’re looking for the websites for those candidates on stage, here they are:
9:42 p.m. A YouTube question from Mark Watson, who identifies himself as a veteran and a YouTuber. He asks why law enforcement doesn’t have better technology. Paul is asked to respond. He says that he’s in favor of body cameras. He also addresses the war on drugs, says that it disproportionately affects African-Americans (wild applause).
9:41 p.m. A question on veterans and charities for Bush. He’s asked if he would police those charities; he says, “Of course.” He says the first thing that the next President should do is revamp the VA (applause). He says that veterans should get much more respect than they do today.
9:40 p.m. Kasich gets his moment. He doesn’t love his question about a back door and instead, moves on to other foreign policy issues.
9:37 p.m. Carson is asked about whether the GOP stance on Muslims is stoking fears. Carson says he doesn’t know about the GOP stance (weird thing to say) but he will talk about his. He again mentions Holy Land – he mentioned them last time.
9:35 p.m. Christie is asking about his stance on profiling. He says he’s not in favor of profiling but instead, relying on facts and letting law enforcement make the decisions. He adds, if you see something suspicious, call law enforcement. He says Obama and Clinton have made law enforcement the enemy.
9:34 p.m. Paul criticizes Rubio’s stance, saying he wants it both ways. He says, “You can’t be in favor of defending us from domestic terrorists and not support tighter border controls.”
9:33 p.m. Moving on to domestic terror. Rubio talks (quite passionately) about domestic terrorism and says that he’d send terrorists to Guantanamo (the second time he’s invoked that name).
9:33 p.m. Kasich desperately wants to talk. They promise him that he can… and then move along without allowing him to speak.
9:31 p.m. Rubio jokes that no matter what the moderators ask him, he won’t leave the stage.
9:29 p.m. Cruz notes that the moderators are asking them to criticize each other and suggests that it’s “mean.” He’s reminded that it’s a debate. Quarreling ensued and he jokes (I hope) that he might leave the stage. I think that one thing that Trump has done is made the candidates wary of criticizing each other and instead, they’ve been focusing on criticizing Clinton (I don’t think that helps them stand out as between each other in this race).
9:27 p.m. Bush is asked about military force and his brother’s role in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush says we do learn from history.
9:26 p.m. Christie fields a question about a Commander in Chief and he invokes Hillary Clinton as someone who should not be Commander in Chief. Most of the candidates seem to want to criticize Clinton but not each other (maybe because Trump is absent).
9:21 p.m. BREAK
9:17 p.m. The questions and answers on terrorism are exactly as you’d expect. Rubio, after joking about his Dubuque faux pas before, says, “We are going to rebuild our intelligence agencies and they are going to tell us where the terrorists are.” Lots of talk again about ISIS.
9:14 p.m. Paul, speaking about the NSA and privacy bill: “I don’t believe we have to give up our liberty for a false sense of security.”
9:12 p.m. Rubio also says he respects Rand Paul because he believes everything he stands for (ding! First mention of ISIS. Not sure how it’s tied to Paul but there you go).
9:12 p.m. Cruz says he respects Rand Paul and believes that whoever wins should be respectful and be able to work with all kinds of people.
9:11 p.m. It’s Father’s Day! Time to talk about how much the candidates love their fathers, with Jeb Bush calling his dad “the greatest man on earth.” Paul also talks enthusiastically about his father’s role in politics.
9:11 p.m. Christie is asked whether he has compromised on being conservative. He looked into the camera (he loves to do that) and talks about how he gets things done.
9:08 p.m. Jeb Bush fields the same question about Trump, joking that the other candidates had been in a witness protection program since no one else dared criticize Trump last time but him.
9:04 p.m. Megyn Kelly begins by asking Cruz about the “elephant not in the room.” Cruz first says how much he appreciates the people of Iowa … then calls himself “a maniac” and Carson “a terrible surgeon,” noting that he’s filling in for Trump. Chuckles all around. Cruz goes on to say that he doesn’t dislike Trump and is grateful for the enthusiasm his voters have brought to the party.
9:00 p.m. Introductions. Applause all around.