MILWAUKEE — A civil, substantive debate on economic policy turned contentious over national security on Tuesday, as Republican presidential contenders sparred over America’s role in the world and how to combat emerging threats.
Front-runner Donald Trump and underdog Rand Paul lined up against U.S. intervention in the Middle East and elsewhere, arguing that Washington could neither fiscally afford, nor should it politically shoulder, the burden of robust military leadership overseas, as has been the tradition in the post World War II era. They argued against challenging Russian strongman Vladimir Putin in Eastern Europe and the Middle East and shied away from combating Chinese expansion in Asia.
That prompted several forceful interjections from surging candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and additional protests from Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina, that the U.S. must restore its role as the guarantor of international security and reverse President Obama’s policy of engagement with authoritarian regimes. At least in the Milwaukee Theater, where eight Republicans met for the fourth debate televised in Prime Time, Republican voters sided with candidates urging stronger U.S. leadership.
Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky, argued that Rubio’s tax reform plan coupled with his proposed hike military spending, was irresponsible and increase the federal deficit. “You get something to me that looks not very conservative.” Rubio, elected to the Senate from Florida in 2010, the junior shot back: “And yes, I want to rebuild the military. I know that Rand is a committed isolationist. I’m not, I believe that the world is a stronger and a better place when the United States is the strongest military power in the world.”
Cruz, the Texas senator, attempted to chart a middle ground between Paul and Rubio, but essentially threw in with his fellow Cuban American, and against the the libertarian-leaning Paul: “You think defending this nation is expensive, try not defending. That’s a lot more expensive. But, you can do that and pay for it.”
The candidates mixed it up again over how to handle Putin and the threat of Islamic terrorism, with Trump channeling President Obama’s view that the U.S. should reduce its overseas footprint to free up funds for domestic investment. The New York billionare developer and reality television star also continued his courtship of Putin, separating himself from most of the rest of the GOP field that views him suspiciously.
“As far as Syria, if Putin wants to go in — and I got to know him very well, because we were both on ’60 Minutes.’ We were stable mates and we did very well that night … If Putin wants to go in and knock the hell out of ISIS, I am all for it, 100 percent, and I can’t understand how anyone can be against it,” Trump said. “As far as the Ukraine is concerned, we have a group of people and a group of countries, including Germany, tremendous economic behemoth — why are we always doing the work?”
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“We have to get smart, we can’t continue to be the policeman of the world,” Trump continued. “We have a country that’s going to hell, we have an infrastructure that’s falling apart, our roads, our bridges, our schools, our airports, and we have to start investing in our country.”
Bush, the former two-term Florida governor, interjected, advocating for a U.S. enforced no-fly zone in Syria: “Donald is wrong on this. He is absolutely wrong on this. We are not going to be the world’s policeman, but we sure as heck better be the world’s leader.”
“Mr. Trump fancies himself a very good negotiator,” Fiorina added, piling on. “Mr. Trump ought to know that we should not speak to people from a position of weakness. Sen. Paul should know that as well.”
The Republicans met in Wisconsin, a midwestern general election battleground, for their fourth debate since early August. Only eight qualified for the Prime Time stage, marking the first time the top debating candidates numbered less than 10. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were relegated to the undercard debate, broadcast earlier Tuesday. That allowed the two-hour face off on the main stage, cablecast by Fox Business Network and co-sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, to take deeper dives into jobs and econonic growth, the main focus of the evening.
There were no clear losers. Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, competing with Trump for the top spot in the polls, managed to navigate some difficult policy questions —at least to the satisfaction of his campaign. Cruz and Rubio continued their march, making the case once again that they are, pound for pound, the best debaters in the field when taking into account their campaign strategies and which segments of the Republican elecatorate they’re speaking to.
However, the evening wasn’t flawless.
Trump’s apparent misunderstanding of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, now under review by Congress, might have received more media attention had a more traditional politician mistaken the basic parameters of the deal. Trump said the agreement should be rejected because it would unfairly benefit China. Whatever its merits or problems, China is in fact not a party to the TPP, negotiated between the U.S. and Asian expressly to combat Beijing’s rising influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The TPP is a horrible deal; it is a deal that is going to lead to nothing but trouble,” Trump said. “It’s a deal that was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door and totally take advantage of everyone.” Trump told reporters after the debate that he was pleased with his performance. “I’m very proud of the job I did, I mean people are saying I did a very good job.”
Paul, who delivered his best performance of the first four debates, interrupted the Gerard Baker, the editor of the Wall Street Journal and one of the moderators, to point out Trump’s faux paux. “Hey Gerard, you know we might want to point out, China’s not part of this deal.”
Bush, on the ropes following a lackluster performance in the previous debate, cablecast by CNBC on Oct. 28, delivered a steady performance that had supporters breathing a sigh of relief. Bush has been stuck in a distant fifth place in the RealClearPolitics average of national and early primary state polls, and his campaign contributors have been threatening to abandon ship if he doesn’t turn things around. Top Bush supporters who addressed the media in the “spin room” post-debate didn’t dispute how critical Tuesday’s debate was to their candidate’s ability to keep his campaign afloat.
In Colorado 13 days ago, Bush received very little talk time and failed to impress when he did speak. Worse, he tried to attack Rubio for missing Senate votes to campaign for president. The critique not only fell flat, Rubio’s counterattack made Bush look weak and not at all like the strong executive leader he sells himself as. The speculation was intense that another performance like that in Milwaukee would be the death knell of his 2016 hopes.
“Tonight was a terrific night,” said former Florida Sen. Mel Martinez. “And if you had an doubts that Jeb was in it for the long haul — he has been through some difficult days — but he’s weathered the storm, he’s moved through it and he’s, tonight, stronger than ever.”
