Instead of talking about who won last night’s debate among twelve candidates (four in the under card and eight at the main event), it’s probably more constructive to talk about who lost.
Both Donald Trump and Rand Paul were true to themselves, but in doing so, showed how they are not representative of a majority of Republicans a mere stone’s throw from the Birthplace of the Republican Party.
In the debate, Trump doubled-down on deportation and Paul called for American isolationism – both policies that would cripple and endanger America and are not in concert with most Republican voters.
First, Trump’s policy to deport 11 million immigrants is untenable. While I am very sympathetic with his calls to secure the border and act with fairness to those seeking entry into our country, I cannot accept or condone any policy that will cause families and communities to suffer. Nor do I think that the GOP can afford to alienate voters who naturally believe in our values: hard work, free market, pro-family, pro-security.
John Kasich, who I did not feel did particularly well in this debate (he was extremely rude and obnoxious with his interruptions), still probably was best at calling Trump out for his policy:
“Come on folks, we all know you can’t pick them up and ship them across the border,” Kasich retorted to Trump. “Think of the families, think of the children” that would be deported under the Trump plan: “It’s a silly argument, it’s not an adult argument – it makes no sense.”
Indeed.
Paul, on the other hand, carried on his father’s legacy of railing against military spending.
Here’s the key exchange between him, and probably the new front-runner, Marco Rubio:
Paul: How is it conservative to add a trillion-dollar expenditure for the federal government that you’re not paying for? How is it conservative to add a trillion dollars in military expenditures? You cannot be a conservative if you’re going to keep promoting new programs that you’re not going to pay for.
Rubio: We can’t even have an economy if we’re not safe. There are radical jihadists in the Middle East beheading people and crucifying Christians, a radical Shia cleric in Iran trying to get a nuclear weapon. The Chinese taking over the South China Sea. Yes, I believe the world is a safer … no, no, I don’t believe, I know … that the world is a safer and better place when America is the strongest military power in the world.
Peace through strength has been the Republican message for years and Paul is clearly going against the grain.
Again, this is the difficulty with nominations, because Paul’s message of fiscal discipline is a very important one to acknowledge and is appreciated by Republican voters: But not at the expense of American sovereignty and security.
What this process is meant to show us is who can be commander-in-chief and represent all of America. Both Trump and Paul showed last night that they cannot fulfill one or both of those requirements.
