Last GOP Debate from 2015 – The Conclusions

The former two-time governor attempted to breathe life into a flagging campaign, looking to make an impression for the first time on a debate stage.

And Trump, by the way, promised anew he’d stick with the GOP.

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Governor Chris Christie speaks during the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Nevada December 15, 2015. To buy Rubio’s argument that Cruz is weak, Cruz has to come across as weak-and he doesn’t.

Meanwhile, Texas U.S. Sen. Rand Paul jumped in to retort that he is “completely wrong”.

This opened the door for Cruz, a former debate champ and Texas solicitor general, to go after Rubio’s Gang of Eight compromise immigration legislation, which included a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Cruz went after Rubio for helping craft the immigration compromise with Democratic Sen.

“There is nothing we are allowed to do under this bill that we were not allowed to do before”, Rubio said.

The two also squared off over Trump being targeted. “And I think some people have to stand up to that”.

“Donald, you know, is great at the one-liners, but he’s a chaos candidate”.

The two candidates later ended up in a tense exchange that wandered far from the foreign policy questions at issue.

He said that means completing a full 700 miles of fencing on the southwest border, adding 20,000 more Border Patrol agents and requiring all businesses to use E-Verify to check their new hires against government databases.

“You’re moving over further and further”, Trump continued. Are you going to apologize, Jeb? Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Trump also had several heated exchanges about leadership and the presidency.

Trump has been leading the Republican primary for months, reaching as high as 41 percent in one recent poll, while Bush has dropped into single digits over the same time period.

He dubbed Trump the “chaos candidate” and dismissed Trump’s proposed temporary ban on Muslim foreigners from entering the U.S.as unserious – “If we’re going to ban all Muslims, how are we going to get them to be part of a coalition to destroy ISIS?” – and briefly seemed to irk Trump when he interrupted one of Trump’s responses. They were looking to the CNN debate in Las Vegas for some kind of signal that a mainstream candidate might emerge.

“What we want in a leader is someone with judgement, not someone who is so reckless”, he said. That can lead our country to safety and security. Over the weekend Trump had called Cruz “a little bit of a maniac”.

“Everyone understands why Donald has suggested what he has”, Cruz said. “We don’t touch each other and draw no blood”. “I have never supported legalization, and I do not intend to support legalization”, Cruz replied. “The debates are important because millions of people watch it. I get that”.

Democrats who watched the debate denounced all of the Republicans. But when Hewitt asked if he’s committed to running as a Republican, he said, “I really am”. And I don’t know why others don’t feel compelled to point that out.

The Republican Party does not nominate its presidential candidate until its national convention in summer 2016.