BOULDER, Colo. — The Republican stragglers grasped for a lifeline Wednesday in an undercard presidential debate that lacked the fireworks and intrigue of its two predecessor events.
The lack of energy was palpable.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former New York Gov. George Pataki and ex-Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum fended off tough questions from the moderators in an attempt to break through with their message on economic revival and job creation — the focus of the debate put on by financial news network CNBC. “My goal is to help the middle class,” Graham said.
“Look,” added Jindal, who considered skipping the debate altogether. “Over the next the several hours, you’re going to hear several Republicans all tell you they want to shrink the size of government and grow the American economy. And it sounds great. We’ve got to do it. Here’s the truth, of all these folks talking, I’m the only one that has cut the size of government. There’s not two of us; there’s one of us. The rest of it is all just hot air.”
The candidates performed well enough. But three debates in and all four still stuck in the Happy Hour edition of the 2016 debates, and the event took on an air of futility in their hopes to graduate to the prime time stage. Graham led the field of four undercard debaters with a whopping 1 percent of support among Republican voters nationally, according to the RealClearPolitics.com average; the other three are registering in fractions.
Pataki, who consistently appears among the most frustrated of the deep underdog candidates, only added to the sense of desperation on the undercard stage inside the Coors Events Center at the University of Colorado with an approach that could be best summed up as: What about me?
“By the way, Bobby, I shrunk the size of New York state’s government,” said Pataki, despite the fact that Jindal hadn’t directly challenged him. A bit later, Pataki fought with the moderators to make sure the viewers knew that he would support the bipartisan budget and debt ceiling package that cleared the House on Wednesday.
“Becky [Quick], can I comment on this question?” Pataki asked.
“Just hold on, Gov. Pataki,” John Harwood interjected. “We are going to go to Sen. Graham on this question.”
Republican primaries have often broken late, giving the trailing candidates legitimate hope that they might turn things around before the first votes of 2016 are cast in Iowa on Feb. 1. Indeed, Jindal has climbed into the middle of the pack in the Hawkeye State, and Santorum likes to point to his surprise, come from nowhere victory in the caucuses four years ago on his way to becoming the overall runner up to eventual GOP nominee Mitt Romney.
Jindal dismissed suggestions that his campaign is a lost cause. And of the bottom four who warmed up the stage for the top 10 leaderboard, he alone has a case to make, based on the slow and steady progress he’s made in the state that votes first. Jindal reiterated to reporters Wednesday evening that he thinks the Republican National Committee and media debate hosts should use early state polls to determine qualifications for prime time.
“Remember, the first votes aren’t cast till Feb. 1, we’re focused on Iowa where the caucus is,” Jindal said. “Over the last 50 years, our nominee has either won Iowa or New Hampshire, that’s not going to change.”
Still, the undercard debaters are clearly struggling — and not just to compete.
With some exceptions, they’re having increasing trouble justifying their decision to remain in the race, if their goal is winning the nomination. Pataki, out of office for more than a decade and with no natural constituency within the GOP, has the toughest case to make. The majority of questions he fielded in the “spin room” following the debate related to his viability and whether he’s angling for a Cabinet post in a Republican administration.
Santorum, who has not been able to build upon his second place finish in 2012, also appears to be searching for a political base where he can drop anchor. His natural base is enamored with retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who is raising boatloads of money and just leapfrogged Donald Trump in Iowa.
“I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating; it’s just hard,” Santorum said, of his 2016 bid. “I didn’t stay out engaged in the game. If you look at all the other folks who were runners-up, they all very much stayed and engaged and starting running for president pretty much after the November election of the time before. I didn’t.”
“I have seven kids,” he added, “and I had to go earn a living.”
Graham, meanwhile, attributed the steep hill he has to climb to lack of advantages that some of the leading candidates have. “My daddy’s never run for president, I’ve never had a TV show, it takes awhile,” he said. “It’s October for God sakes.”
