Trump, Clinton are targets in ‘happy hour’ debate
In ‘happy hour’ debate, Republicans cut from prime-time event target Clinton and Trump
Seven who didn’t make prime-time cut duke it out at earlier event.
Excluded from the main event, GOP candidates participating in the undercard debate Thursday came out swinging against front-runner Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, while generally holding their fire against one another.
Former Texas governor Rick Perry contrasted Trump’s tough talk on immigration control with his own record, which includes deploying the National Guard to stem the tide of illegal immigrants. “We need a president that doesn’t just talk a game, but a president that’s got real results,” he said when asked about the billionaire real estate developer.
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina took a shot at Trump as well.
Though she conceded he “had tapped into an anger that people feel,” she suggested his shifting positions on key issues made him untrustworthy. “Since he has changed his mind on (immigration) amnesty, on health care and on abortion, I would just ask him what are the principles by which he will govern?” she said.
Perry and Fiorina were among the seven candidates appearing in the “happy hour” debate featuring GOP hopefuls who failed to make the cut for the prime-time event that occurred later Thursday evening.
Sharing the stage with them were former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former New York governor George Pataki and former senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
The seven had little to lose as they tried to pump up their poll numbers to muscle their way into the next GOP debate, at the Ronald Reagan Library on Sept. 16 in Simi Valley, Calif.
Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, was a clear target at times. “To all the Americans who want a better life, don’t vote for Hillary Clinton,” Graham said. “You’re not going to get it. She’s not going to repeal Obamacare and replace it, I will. ... Until you change the policies of Barack Obama, we’re never going to grow this economy ... or be safe. She represents a third term of a failed presidency.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of the participants in the primetime debate, took some fire as well. Asked what they thought of Kasich’s decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio as part of the Affordable Care Act, Pataki and Jindal said they would not support such a step in their states.
“We’re going to have too many people in the cart, rather than pulling the cart. I don’t think anybody should be expanding Medicaid,” Jindal said. “I think it’s a mistake to create new and more expensive entitlement program when we can’t afford the ones we’ve got today.”
Candidates tried to make the case for their electability and credentials. Perry said he’s ready to be president four years after his previous campaign imploded in 2012. “I think Americans want someone (with) a track record to get this country back on track,” he said. “I will assure you … I’m ready to be that individual.”
Graham tried to emphasize his national security credentials, saying the elimination of the Islamic State would be one of his top priorities. “If you’re running for president of the United States and you don’t understand that we need American ground forces in Iraq … then you’re not ready to be commander in chief, then you’re not serious about destroying (the Islamic State),” he said.
Before the debate started, some participants blasted the rules established by Fox News restricting participation based on national polls.