Daniel Bayer
Staff Writer
Sparks flew over hot-button conservative issues, such as defense and immigration, last week as Republican presidential candidates clashed on the Fox Business Network’s debate stage, with frontrunners fighting to stay on top as the rest of the pack jockeyed for a boost in poll numbers.
Moderated by Fox Business anchors Neil Cavuto and Maria Bartiromo and Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Gerard Baker, the debate focused more on questions of policy rather than personal issues, which must have come as some relief to candidate Ben Carson, who had spent the previous days dealing with accusations that stories about his inspirational past may have distorted the truth in some instances.
“First of all, thank you for not asking me what I said in the 10th grade; I appreciate that,” Carson said to the moderators.
Carson’s fellow frontrunner, Donald Trump, lost no time, however, in tackling what has become the trademark issue of his campaign: illegal immigration, including his plans to build a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico.
“We will have a wall. A wall will be built. The wall will be successful, and if you think walls don’t work, all you have to do is ask Israel,” Trump said.
Trump’s claim that he’ll forcibly deport all of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants residing in this country was met with derision by other candidates.
“Come on, folks; we all know you can’t pick them up and ship them back across the border,” Ohio Gov. John Kasich said. “It’s a silly argument. It’s not an adult argument.”
The crowd booed Trump when he dismissed Kasich. “I don’t need to hear from him,” Trump said.
Trump stuck to his guns as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said that his attitudes on immigration would only hurt Republicans with Hispanic voters, a growing demographic in the U.S.
“They’re probably high-fiving themselves over at Hillary headquarters because we’re having this conversation,” Bush said.
Another major point of contention was foreign policy, as Trump and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul sparred with the rest over the U.S.’s role in the world.
Trump claimed his chance meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the green room of “60 Minutes” would give him an edge in negotiating with the foreign leader.
“I’ve met him as well,” former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said. ”But it wasn’t in a green room before a show. It was a private meeting.”
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio referred to Putin as “gangster who only understands strength” while Fiorina suggested that the U.S. not speak to him.
“It’s naïve and foolish to think we won’t talk to Russia,” Paul said.
He then asked if the U.S. would shoot down any Russian planes that flew into Bush’s proposed no-fly zone over Syria. Bush, in return, then criticized Paul’s isolationist stance.
“When we pull back, voids are filled,” Bush said. “Without our leadership, every other country changes its stance. Hillary and Obama believe we don’t have a leadership role to play.”
Carson’s contribution was that the U.S. should do everything it can to make ISIS, which now controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, look like “losers.”
Rubio and Paul disagreed about how to pay for a larger U.S. role in the world, with Paul accusing Rubio of ignoring conservative principles to increase military spending.
“How is it conservative to add a trillion dollars in military expenditures?” Paul said. “You cannot be a conservative if you’re going to keep promoting new programs that you can’t pay for.”
“I do want to rebuild the American military,” Rubio said. “I know that Rand is a committed isolationist. I am not.”
Rubio, who has received praise for his foreign policy know-how, continued with a hawkish response that he is becoming known for.
“We can’t even have an economy if we’re not safe,” Rubio said. “There are radical jihadists in the Middle East beheading people and crucifying Christians, a radical Shia cleric in Iran trying to get a nuclear weapon, the Chinese taking over the South China Sea.”
On economic matters, none of the candidates strayed far from the orthodoxy that has governed the Republican party since President Ronald Reagan.
All supported lower taxes, no increase in the minimum wage and less regulation of business, though Trump’s criticism of trade agreements struck a populist chord.
Assessments of which candidate benefited most from the debate varied, although as of last Saturday, a Reuters poll showed Trump 17 points ahead of his nearest rival Carson.
THE CAROLINIAN 