GOP Candidates Battle Sharply on Immigration

His hardline proposal was attacked as impractical and divisive by John Kasich and Jeb Bush, who are also running for the Republican presidential nomination.

Candidates figure to drop out after the Iowa caucuses (Feb. 1), the New Hampshire primary (Feb. 9), the SC primary (Feb. 20), the Nevada caucuses (Feb. 23), and a series of southern primaries on March 1. Chief among them: immigration. Clinton has called for a $12/hour wage, saying it’s more realistic to get it through Congress. No doubt they’ll be dying to compare their plans to Trump’s argument that high wages are killing US competitiveness. “We all know you can’t pick them up and ship them across, back across the border”, Kasich said. “It is a silly argument”. And it would tear communities apart. Frymer noted that Cruz would also have significantly better chances if Trump dropped out.

When pressed on how he could carry out the deportation of millions of people, Trump said “you’re going to have a deportation force, and you’re going to do it humanely”.

“Our taxes are too high”.

“There were a few elbows”.

Trump at one point asked if anyone in the crowd had a copy of his newest book.

Even though Trump muddled his way through the debate, seemingly clueless that China was not even a party to the TPP trade agreement, GOP voters gave him a pass. He does after all promise to make America great again, and who doesn’t want that?

Arguably, the debate was more substantive than previous debates and that was partly due to the manner in which the moderators handled the questions to the candidates, but there were plenty of fireworks between the candidates.

The panelists in Tuesday’s debate – Neil Cavuto and Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business Network and Gerard Baker of The Wall Street Journal – asked a few pointed questions. But they were more polite and laissez faire than their CNBC counterparts.

In another sign of GOP support for Trump’s strict immigration policies, more poll respondents reacted favorably to a comment by the real-estate mogul.

The candidates were also mindful that the debate would be the last until Dec 15, so impressions made on Tuesday night could have lasting influence in the weeks ahead.

Rand Paul, whose low polling numbers barely qualified him for the main stage, had his most active debate yet.

They barely explored recent controversies roiling the Republican race, particularly accusations that Mr Carson had embellished or even fabricated part of his inspiring life story.

“I have no problem with being vetted”, Carson said. The candidates used the 90 seconds they were allotted for each answer to promote their tax proposals, to lament what they said were intrusive business regulations and to delve into the country’s monetary policy. He said, to audience applause: “You think defending this nation is expensive?”

Pollsters and pundits had different opinions on the candidates following the debate. A few voice skepticism about new trade deals, others are supportive.

Cruz worked to align himself with Trump earlier in the campaign and isn’t smacking the billionaire with insults now.

The absence of a game-changing moment deepens the sense of uncertainty over the Republican Party’s 2016 field.

Johnson has not endorsed anyone.