Republican
presidential candidates, from left, Lindsey Graham, Ben Carson, John
Kasich, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Rick
Santorum speak among themselves after a forum Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, in
Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Republicans here wanted very badly to preempt the first presidential debate on Fox News by holding a more regionally focused event, to drive home the importance of their status as an early primary state.
They
succeeded in getting 14 of the 17 candidates to show up here Monday.
But what took place on the campus of St. Anselms was so far removed from
the substance of an actual debate that it wasn’t clear what voters in
New Hampshire watching on local TV, or anyone else watching on C-SPAN,
could have learned from the cattle-call of candidates.
The
event was pulled together and organized by the local newspaper, the
Union-Leader, a tremendous logistical undertaking for a regional media
organization. It did so, calling it the Voters First Forum, in order to
defy Fox News and other cable TV giants who increasingly control the
nominating process.
But because of rules put in place
by the Republican National Committee to prevent GOP candidates from
having to take part in too many debates that take up valuable
preparation time and which, in the opinion of the RNC, create a dynamic
of ongoing Republican-on-Republican criticism, the forum was fatally
hamstrung.
The
candidates were not allowed to stand on stage next to each other. That
would have been a debate. So instead, they sat in theater chairs in the
front row of an auditorium watching one another slide quickly onto a bar
stool while their names and a brief bios were read out over the
loudspeaker. The audience sat silent, as instructed.
One
by one, the candidates answered a handful of questions from local talk
radio host Jack Heath. They spoke for only four minutes each, fielding
what were almost uniformly friendly questions asked from a conservative
point of view by Heath.
“What
compelled you to run?” Heath asked former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “How
do you run for president and tell the truth about entitlement reform?”
Heath asked New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Heath asked the same
entitlement question to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker but added that “some
critics will say you’re anti-senior, anti-kid, anti-human.”
There
was a second round of questions that was even shorter than the first.
Each candidate got one or two questions and about 90 seconds to answer.
Then Heath gave them 30 more seconds to say whatever they wanted. The
result was all of the frustratingly truncated answers that limit the
usefulness of a regular debate, but with none of the interaction between
candidates.
The
only way for candidates to engage with each other would have been for
Heath to prod them to respond to specific comments by others. But Heath
declined to do so.
And businessman Donald Trump — who is leading in the national polls
— declined to participate in the event, depriving it of a figure who
would have ensured fireworks. The two others who declined to come were
former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and former Virginia Gov. Jim
Gilmore.
All
of which meant that the candidate’s comments were largely a recitation
of talking points coupled with the rapid-fire recitation of their
accomplishments. Little of what the candidates said came even close to
being newsworthy.
Bush,
asked how the U.S. should deal with the Islamic State, endorsed sending
some troops — but did so in a way that drew some attention.
“I think we need Special Forces. The idea of boots on the ground, I’m not sure that’s necessary,” Bush said.
Bush
also drew some distinctions between his relationship with his brother,
former president George W. Bush, and his father, former president George
H.W. Bush.
“I
have a different view than my brother,” Bush said, but then added that
he finds it hard to criticize his father. He was not asked to articulate
how he thinks differently than his brother, or on what issue.
One
of the few light moments came when Heath asked former Texas Gov. Rick
Perry what government agencies he would get rid of. It was the question
that led to Perry’s epic meltdown during a 2012 Republican presidential primary debate, when Perry could not name the three agencies he would cut.
“I’ve
heard this question before,” Perry cracked, drawing one of the few
laughs of the night from the audience. Perry went on to talk about
cutting spending in general, but never answered the question.
Sen.
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), however, suffered a moment that was mildly
similar to Perry’s 2012 stumble. He tripped over his words and had to
stop his sentence and utter words similar to Perry’s defeated comment
from years ago. “I’m sorry, I can’t,” Graham said, before starting over.
Graham
provided one of the few zingers of the night, when he said that former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate,
was not truthful, and used her husband’s past as evidence. Graham
referred to former President Bill Clinton’s extramarital affair with
White House intern Monica Lewinsky during his presidency.
“When Bill says I did not have sex with that women, he did,” Graham said.
On Twitter, the event was described as “speed dating.”
Stuart Stevens, who was a top adviser to the 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, wrote on Twitter, “Have to say the ‘40 Year Old Virgin’ version of this NH forum was more fun. #speeddating”
Three
of the U.S. Senators who are running for the GOP nod stayed in
Washington to vote on defunding Planned Parenthood, an effort that failed 53-to-46.
These three, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio
of Florida, appeared via remote camera against a black background,
alongside each other on the screen. It looked like a Saturday Night Live
send up.
Backstage,
before the event began, the candidates stood in a single file, as
organizers implored them to remember how to stand in alphabetical order.
“These
are people who could be the leader of the free world. I think they can
remember each other’s last names,” an aide to one of the presidential
candidates said afterward.
Another
aide complained that organizers were allowing some campaigns to have
photographers backstage, while other campaigns had been told not to take
pictures or video with their smart phones.
There
was not a lot of sniping at Fox News from the candidates on stage. Many
of them, such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Christie, and Perry, are trying
to get into the debate sponsored by Fox on Thursday in Cleveland.
But
former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina did show some frustration with
the way that Fox has set up the first debate, which will heavily
influence which candidates have a chance of moving to the front of the
pack from the very crowded middle.
Fiorina thanked the organizers “for reminding the political class that we don’t have a national primary.”
Heath
himself demonstrated a little bit of regional irritation as he ended a
segment with Cruz, who has spent very little time in New Hampshire as he
makes a play for the more culturally conservative voters in Iowa, which
votes right before the Granite State early next year.
“Thank you Senator Cruz. We’ll see you in New Hampshire soon, I’m sure,” Heath remarked sarcastically.
For
the candidates who did attend, they avoided drawing attention for
skipping out, with little cost other than their airfare. It was, a Bush
adviser said, “something that doesn’t mean all that much unless we had
made the decision to skip it, in which case it would have been bad.”
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