For the first three Republican debates, the moderators have spent most of each debate asking candidates to respond to what other candidates have said to them. These kinds of petty questions have led to debates being more about personal attacks than substantive policy.
A sampling from each debate.
The first debate:
Brett Baier: “Governor [Mike] Huckabee, what do you think about what Senator [Rand] Paul just said?”
Chris Wallace: “Governor Huckabee says he can save Social Security and Medicare without doing any of that. Is he lying?”
Second debate:
Jake Tapper: “Mrs. [Carly] Fiorina, I want to start with you. Fellow Republican candidate, and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, has suggested that your party’s front-runner, Mr. Donald Trump, would be dangerous as president. He said he wouldn’t want, quote, ‘such a hot head with his finger on the nuclear codes.’ You, as well, have raised concerns about Mr. Trump’s temperament. You’ve dismissed him as an entertainer. Would you feel comfortable with Donald Trump’s finger on the nuclear codes?”
Jake Tapper [to Donald Trump]: “Governor Bush told me last week when I read him the quote from Governor Jindal that he agrees you’re not a serious candidate.”
“Tell Governor Bush why you are a serious candidate and what your qualifications are to be commander-in-chief.”
Third debate:
John Harwood [to Ohio Gov. John Kasich]: “You said yesterday that you were hearing proposals that were just crazy from your colleagues. Who were you talking about?”
John Harwood [to Huckabee]: “The leading Republican candidate, when you look at the average of national polls right now, is Donald Trump. When you look at him, do you see someone with the moral authority to unite the country?”
And there were many more examples.
In response to that final example, Huckabee had the response closest to what candidates need to do when asked those kinds of questions: He refused to give in and play the demagogue against his fellow Republican.
“You know, of the few questions I’ve got, the last one I need is to give him some more time. I love Donald Trump. He is a good man. I’m wearing a Trump tie tonight. Get over that one, OK?” Huckabee said.
When asked a question about what another candidate said about them or anything else, the GOP candidates need to avoid the bait and focus on their own policies. Democrats in their primary debate were asked about themselves or policies. GOP candidates will likely not get such practical questions, even from Fox News, apparently.
So what they need to do is employ the public relations technique called “block and bridge.” Acknowledge the question quickly (or, if it’s absurd like the ones they’ve been getting, don’t even acknowledge it), perhaps by saying something along the lines of “I’m not going to speak ill of my fellow Republican” and “bridge” to their own policy.
So when an interviewer asks, “Rand Paul, Jeb Bush just said your tax policy sucks,” Paul’s response would be to just talk about tax policy. As Huckabee noted, doing so would give him more speaking time.
The candidates can, if they focus on this, set themselves apart by their policies, not their witty comments about each other. The American people need to see the policy differences between Republicans and Democrats. Because right now they’re seeing what the Democrats have to offer but only what Republicans will say about each other.
