Tonight at 8, Republican candidates will take the stage in Milwaukee for a Fox Business debate hosted by Neil Cavuto. There are a few things worth watching for…
Decent Moderating- Expect a joke or two the first time someone asks a difficult policy question, but the likelihood of this debate descending into moderators debating and heckling the candidates is unlikely.
Something Different from Jeb! The flailing former frontrunner tried to coast through the first few debates and his unremarkable efforts cast doubt on his electability. In the last debate, Jeb! shifted tactics, with an awkward attack on Marco Rubio that morphed into a “how to do politics” lesson taught by Rubio. It was awkward for everyone. Jeb! almost looked ready to quit right then and there. If not for that giant pile of money, he might have.
About that. Jeb! now sits comfortably in the middle, polling at between 4 and 8 percent and consistently behind Carson, Trump, Cruz, and Rubio. If he wants to change that, he’ll have to come up with something else. Expect a third iteration of Jeb! tonight. What that could be, God only knows. A good strategy might be to talk about his extremely conservative record of governance in Florida, but it might be too little too late.
Trump vs Carson? Not So Fast- Both are comfortable frontrunners. Establishment types are dismissing their candidacies as tantrums, but Carson has a pile of money and Trump has put forth hard policy proposals on a variety of issues. Many have suggested that Trump may attack Carson, but it does him no good. Carson is beloved by Trump voters, and poking holes in his inexperience might make the Donald vulnerable to similar attacks. Expect Carson to keep being Carson and Trump to focus his attacks on Rubio.
Rubio vs Cruz and Trump- This week, Cruz affiliated PACs released an ad mocking Rubio’s inexperience, noting that his most notable position was on amnesty. Expect Cruz to continue to hammer that home, while the establishment favorite Rubio will try to frame Cruz as a grandstander who’s uninterested in actually getting things done. Expect the fray to grow larger and Trump to also attack Rubio. Cruz’s embrace of Trump has left him with a valuable ally in his corner who will likely do a lot of his dirty work.
The Return of Libertarian Rand Paul – Rand has nothing left to lose. He’s on the verge of falling out if he doesn’t shine in this debate or set him apart. Expect Rand to stop pretending to be a moderate and pivot hard back to his libertarian roots. It’s the only chance he’s got to get any momentum going and overcome a slew of unremarkable performances that have created the perception that he’s petty and sour.
AAN Staff
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