Republican Debate Goes On Without Donald Trump

So Donald Trump didn’t like Megyn Kelly’s pointed question at an earlier debate.

As the headline on CBS This Morning told viewers, “Trump Tries to Own Debate Night Despite Boycott”, correspondent Major Garrett declared: “And in yet another first for this campaign, Trump proved he makes news where he is and even where he isn’t”. The Texas senator’s campaign announced Friday it started the year with about $19 million in available money, giving him a financial edge over most of his Republican rivals. Overall, the two-hour affair featured a sober tone focused more on substance than personality.

“They call Ted Cruz Obama’s nemesis”, the ad begins, which first aired on Friday and was observed by CMAG/Kantar Media, a company that tracks political advertising.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump returned to attacks on Ted Cruz’s birthplace on Friday, suggesting that he’s not a US citizen and calling him a Canadian “anchor baby” at a campaign event in New Hampshire just three days before the Iowa caucuses.

And, finally, viewers who had not seen some of the most recent debates might have been surprised by Ben Carson, the renowned pediatric brain surgeon. Working with the data firm Targeted Victory, the Cruz team has developed 178 different consumer data segments to use when determining which ads to show to specific Web users. “Now that we’ve gotten the Donald Trump portion out of the way…” Trump organized the fundraiser to compete with the final candidates’ debate before the Iowa caucuses, in an effort to undercut viewership for the Fox News debate. “He’s the greatest show on earth”.

A frequent target of Trump, Bush opened the debate by saying wryly, “I kind of miss Donald Trump; he was a teddy bear to me”.

Cruz’s campaign was challenged by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate over a mailer sent to potential voters that seemed created to look like an official notice warning recipients about “low expected voter turnout in your area”.

The Florida Republican has taken opportunities to showcase his Catholic faith in front of voters this month, as his campaign has worked to amplify those messages to a broader audience. “Trump is the one that does this fly in-fly out and a lot of people don’t get the questions asked that they want to have asked”, said Vander Plaats.

Christie is part of a crowded field of more mainstream candidates who have struggled to break through in an election year where Trump, and increasingly Cruz, have tapped into voter anger with the political system.

Rubio shot back, telling CNN that as voters learn more about Cruz’s record, they will understand that “he’s always looking to take whatever position it takes to win votes or raise money”.

Rubio also charged Cruz with shifting his positions. This is probably one of Jeb Bush’s best performance of all the debates.

“You shouldn’t cut and run”, Bush charged.

On the Democratic side, Sen.

“We’re just starting. The first vote hasn’t been counted”. Rand Paul, who was back in the main debate line-up after failing to make the cut for the sixth debate.

One of the governors – whether it’s Bush, Ohio’s John Kasich, or New Jersey’s Chris Christie – is going to come out of New Hampshire in good shape. Hillary is going on and one of these establishment Republicans will go on.

By staging the veterans’ event instead of attending the final candidates’ debate before Iowans kick off the voting on Monday night, Trump waged yet another high-stakes gamble that he could re-write the rules of presidential politics.

K9s for Warriors, which trains rescue dogs to be service animals for veterans, received a call from a Trump campaign representative asking if the group was interested in accepting funds from the event, according to executive director Rory Diamond.

He explained to the Drake University crowd that he had little choice but to skip the debate.

“You have to stick up for your rights”.

“I know that Cruz comes from a background where his father was a minister … but I guess it’s all in presentation in the sense that you know someone who’s genuine about their faith and someone who’s forcing it”, Indra said.

Ratings for the debate sank, as he predicted; the debate was the second lowest-rated of the seven Republican debates this campaign. It still drew 12.5 million viewers.