Here comes the early Republican debate

Jindal clearly entered the debate with a strategy of taking out Christie, who was on the junior varsity stage for the first time after he failed to make the cut for the prime-time affair.

“We don’t reduce the IRS”.

Also participating in the debate were Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, and former Pennsylvania Sen.

“We’ve incentivized people not to marry, we incentivized people to cohabitate, not marry. Why?” Well, meaning by the left. “We need to remove them”.

What was that you said, Bobby Jindal? “Facts don’t lie”, Jindal said of Huckabee.

“Hillary Clinton’s coming for your wallet, everybody”, Mr. Christie warned at one point, casting Mrs. Clinton as a tax-and-spend Democrat who couldn’t be entrusted with the country’s future.

“Christie did well. He tried to show that he was tough and aggressive, and he kept it all focused on Hillary” Clinton, said Drake University political scientist Dennis Goldford.

Christie has also said he would like to establish what is known as a territorial tax system, which would only tax U.S.-based businesses on their domestic income.

Jindal challenged Christie’s record on spending, criticized his expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and noted that New Jersey’s credit has been downgraded nine times under Christie’s watch.

Christie said New Jersey government spending has declined except for health spending, which he blamed on Obamacare, and pensions. Huckabee said. “Will we give them a good place to stay, a sandwich and medical benefits?” “Let’s not just beat Hillary; let’s elect a conservative to the White House, not just any Republican”.

The format allotted the candidates a full 90 seconds to answer questions, providing more breathing room than most of the previous debates. “But in the real world, it’s about getting results”, Jindal said a few minutes later.

“Remember why we’re in the position we’re in with China”, Christie said in response to a question about the Asian giant’s cyberwarfare. “Because they FIGHT”, he screamed into the microphone.

Four low-rated Republican presidential candidates gather Tuesday in the city known for its beer for a different kind of “happy hour”.

“We’ve had Vietnam war veterans with tears in their eyes saying nobody has ever thanked them before”.

“Mike, with all due respect”, Jindal replied, “I admire your social views, I share many of those views”.

He dismissed a suggestion from Jindal that the candidates who spent time in Congress didn’t have accomplishments, citing his work on welfare reform in the 1990’s under Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Once a commanding figure in the Republican Party – “Why Chris Christie Can Win Over the GOP” was the title of a glowing 2013 Time magazine cover story – Christie found himself bumped off the big stage, forced to share the lesser-valued real estate of the undercard stage with three other little-chance rivals. His performance in Tuesday’s debate should do absolutely nothing to change that.