GOP summit in Orlando underscores unsettled race for president

“A Republican president, any president, Republican or Democrat, should be willing to do whatever it takes to protect America”, Jindal said, but added, “This president…says we’re not going to send in ground troops”.

Meantime, conventional candidates such as Florida’s Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush are battling to stand out if the frontrunners stumble – an expectation many still cling to. He said he would be the best choice to lead the country because of his experience as Virginia’s governor during the 2001 terrorist attacks and accused Obama and Clinton of failing in the fight against terrorists tied to “radical Islamism”.

Rubio held one of the more assured press conferences the party’s seen in recent weeks, as Dr. Ben Carson clashes with reporters over questions about his past and Donald Trump faces criticism for calling Carson “pathological” and likening him to a child molester.

The government is promoting hatred of people, “If you believe in basic principals like marriage should be defined as between one man and one woman; if you believe all human life is worthy of protection”, Rubio said.

“We have a government that is increasingly targeting the faith community in this country and undermining values”, Rubio said, building the response more. Rand Paul, who said more scrutiny is needed of “refugees, visitors and students” entering the U.S.to determine whether anyone is here “to do us harm”.

Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina addresses the Sunshine Summit in Orlando, Fla., Saturday, November 14, 2015.

He says Texas and Florida have a lot in common.

Rubio is there along with the other leading Republicans running for president.

The contrast cuts to the state of the 2016 race for the Republican nomination.

Rubio has been criticized by rival Ted Cruz as an “amnesty” supporter because he backed a 2013 immigration reform bill with a pathway to citizenship.

Cruz responded on Friday afternoon by chastising other GOP candidates who say one thing on Spanish-language networks and something else on other networks. This is a newer line in Rubio’s standard speech. He said Florida would be “the second inflection point” for Bush and Rubio. “As long as it is a philosophical contrast and it doesn’t get personal I think all candidates are supposed to do that, especially as you get into the homestretch”.

“That’s just a bunch of crap the left wing puts out to make me look bad”, Carson said.

“It would be an attempt not to contain them, but to eliminate them before they get us”, Carson said. “We have to realize the jihadist movement is an existential threat”.