NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — It was a wake.
Underdogs for the Republican presidential nomination Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum (Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky spurned his invitation) debated Thursday evening in what amount to a staid warm-up act for the front-runners that were scheduled to face off in prime time. Undercard debates held earlier in the campaign saw sharp elbows as candidates jockeyed to get ahead.
The sixth such event, cablecast on Fox Business Network from South Carolina, functioned more like a candidate forum than a competitive debate. It wasn’t entirely the candidates’ fault. All three are polling low, with Fiorina having fallen the farthest since soaring into the top tier in late September, and none had any incentive to mix it up with the other. Fiorina’s gravitas and command of the issues was a notch above her competition.
The question is whether it matters. Employing rhetorical zingers that targeted Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, Fiorina seemed on an urgent mission to prove that it did.
“You know Hillary Clinton sits inside government and rakes in millions handing out access and favors. Donald Trump sits outside government and rakes in billions buying people like Hillary Clinton,” Fiorina said. “Unlike another woman in this race, I actually love spending time with my husband.”
Huckabee and Santorum are the winners of the last two Iowa caucuses, and their previous come-from-behind victories could be buoying them despite low poll numbers. But 2016 is a different year with a stronger field of candidates. If any of these three candidates are in position to shock voters when the early primary states vote next month, it’s probably Fiorina. She is relying on a super PAC for most of her field activities.
Among GOP primary candidates, Fiorina is running seventh nationally; Huckabee and Santorum are running 10th and 11th, respectively. In Iowa, Huckabee is running eighth, Fiorina 10th and Santorum 11th.
