For GOP, debate was glimpse of what could have been

NEW YORK (AP) – The seventh Republican presidential debate – and the first one without drawing card Donald Trump – was seen by 12.5 million viewers on Fox News Channel. While they debated in Des Moines, Iowa, Trump held an event for Veterans a few miles down the road at Drake University. Nevadans who watched the debate said regardless of the real estate mogul’s decision to not attend, the forum still ended up being a robust discussion.

It turns out that a world without Donald Trump is filled with Donald Trump anyway. Remember, Cruz said, “there is a difference between personal insults and attacks – between going into the mud with ad hominems and focusing on issues and substance”. The Cruz/Rubio dynamic has been in play for a while now as the two have exchanged barbs both on the campaign trail and during other debates. And they were Thursday night.

Ted Cruz took on attacks from several of his rivals, even complaining to the moderators that too many questions were aimed at attacking him. “We’re opponents in the campaign, but we’re not opponents in supporting veterans”, he said as he moved through the crowd proffering handshakes before disappearing out a side exit. “That he’s the most conservative guy”.

Marco Rubio what he thought about an earlier Cruz recording that did not match his rhetoric.

Actually, Bush’s response was a good one if, as sometimes seems to be the case, the goal of his campaign is to destroy Rubio, his one-time protege. “While Republicans do want to honor Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment, it is a debate”. Paul had supporters in the hall who loudly shouted after every statement by him, but Paul’s anti-interventionist approach to national security marked him as an outlier in his own party. “Ted Cruz is a rigid ideologue”.

“This was do-or-die for Cruz”, said Davis, a registered Republican. Rand Paul certainly didn’t say nice things about Obama and Clinton, but they presented a more hopeful view of America, painting it as a country on the wrong track that can be steered back on course with a little competence.

Trump, who has accused Fox News, and particularly Kelly, of treating him unfairly, said: “When you’re treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights – whether we like it or not”.

“I don’t think you need to be a politician to tell the truth”, he said.

The rest of the GOP field let its guard down in Trump’s absence.

“We’re not going to force it down their throat”, he said in the interview, later remarking to journalists: “You have to learn English”. He said he’s putting up $1 million of his own money and read off the names of wealthy friends he said had pledged major contributions. Congressional Republicans would supposedly come out ahead with Trump because he would be a stronger nominee and a more cooperative president.

Trump was joined at his event by two of his rivals – Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum – who briefly spoke.

Tomorrow, the bully jumps back into the fray, and they know it. When asked by a reporter after the debate if he missed Trump, Cruz didn’t mince his words.

“It was like somebody had popped a balloon and the air was slowly coming out (during the debate)”, he said. But Trump’s willingness to take on Fox News – and tap into a deep well of far-right resentment against the network – seemed to give candidates like Cruz the go-ahead to confront the network as well. Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, whose questions at an August debate about Trump’s derogatory comments about women triggered his boycott, asked Cruz about “the elephant not in the room”.

But Trump said he wasn’t concerned. “It has to be won on the ground”. How that improves their overall chances of winning the nomination, I do not know.

One of opening acts was a pair of internet personalities called Diamond and Silk, who create videos with titles like, “DIAMOND AND SILK ARE MAD AS HELL!”

As Cruz and Rubio continued to pummel each other, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie jumped in to remind voters of one of his chief credentials – not being a member of Congress. That is a clear advantage.

But the network stood by their star presenter, saying they were proud she was representing them.

The next Republican debate is set for February 6, in Manchester, N.H., three days before that state holds the first-in-the-nation primary.