Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

It’s a new day. Light all those Biden polls of young people on fire and throw away the ashes.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Democrats are back in array!

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / RNC/Fox News Debate Open Thread

RNC/Fox News Debate Open Thread

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Okay, I missed the undercard (doubt I missed much, actually). Here’s the Guardian‘s liveblog.

Here’s the Rude Pundit’s audioblog. (I owe someone a hat tip for that link.)

RRRRRREADY TO RRRRRRUMBLE….

ETA:

Yeah, guess we’re up to speed now.

Reader Interactions

293Comments

  1. 1.

    beltane

    Jeb should be asked about the Mufti, who we’ve been told made Hitler look like an amateur by comparison.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    Apparently the most-commonly-searched question about Jeb? on Google is ‘Is Jeb Bush still running for President?’. Feel the Jebmentum!

  4. 4.

    Renie

    Christie vetoed legislation to make it easier to vote in NJ while Cuomo is giving all state workers $15.00 minimum wage starting in NYC in 2016 and in the rest of the state in 2021.

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    Some random Fox “analyst” about the debates: “You’ve got to go through the whole inventory” of candidates. It’s all irregulars and factory seconds, right?

  6. 6.

    max

    RUBIO: my father was a bartender

    …and his mother won the Derby…

    max
    [‘…he’s spent much of his life as a wastebasket…’]

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    “Tonight’s rules are simple. There are no rules. You each have a crowbar behind your podium. Begin”

  14. 14.

    Jeffro

    Jesus even Carly has a flag pin jammed on to her otherwise perfectly fine dress .

    Rand Paul’s pin doesn’t appear to be an American flag anyone have any insight ?

  21. 21.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @dmsilev:

    Trump: “Wages are too high”. And yes, that is an actual quote.

    He actually said that??? And are rents too low?

  23. 23.

    Rob

    Carson just said (paraphrasing and iirc) every time we raise the minimum wage we increase unemployment. Sure, buddy.

  25. 25.

    skerry

    Should have watched the Louisiana Governor debate. Edwards called Vitter a liar and a cheater.

    I hope there is video showing Vitter’s face.

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    Again, Carson wants to pull the ladder he ascended behind him.

    PS: Did y’all know Rubio’s father was a bartender? It’s trooo!

  32. 32.

    Germy Shoemangler

    In a televised interview on MSNBC, Trump, a real estate mogul and TV personality, said the United States needed low wages and taxes to be competitive with other countries.

    “Having a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for this country,” Trump said.

    “We can’t have a situation where our labor is so much more expensive than other countries’ that we can no longer win.”

    from the business insider

  34. 34.

    Rob

    Rubio: not enough jobs that pay well, but don’t raise the minimum wage? (I think that’s what he said, sorry, I’m distracted). Maybe I’ll open the wine now.

  40. 40.

    Anoniminous

    @lamh36:

    Dr. Carson just told us the minimum wage is the reason AA unemployment is so high.

    I thought you’d want to know. ;-0

  49. 49.

    Cliff in NH

    @Rob:
    http://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-statement/
    In recent years there have been important developments in the academic literature on the effect of increases in the minimum wage on employment, with the weight of evidence now showing that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. Research suggests that a minimum-wage increase could have a small stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage workers spend their additional earnings, raising demand and job growth, and providing some help on the jobs front.

  53. 53.

    Tommy

    I can’t watch anymore. Cruz just said our economy is growing at 1%. I don’t think that is remotely true.

  54. 54.

    dmsilev

    The 1920s. Definitely an economic era of prosperity. Never mind that whole “start of Great Depression” thing.

  57. 57.

    Feudalism Now!

    Listen, when we can compete with wages in Malaysia, Myanmar and Somalia, we will bring manufacturing back to this country. No one will be able to afford what we make, but we will build it!

  59. 59.

    mdblanche

    Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon Tuesday evening.
    Going to the candidates’ debate.
    Laugh about it, shout about it
    When you’ve got to choose
    Every way you look at this you lose.

  64. 64.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Tommy: He averaged out the entire time of Obama’s two terms. Including the depth of the crash when it was in the minus column.

    I’m sitting here wondering how Republicans can be running on “economic growth” when unemployment is 5% and growth is clearly picking up, and then I heard that and thought oh right. They mislead. That’s how.

  69. 69.

    Betty Cracker

    See what Fiorina tried to do there? Hope the British dood pushes back. Dems are the job creators.

  70. 70.

    magurakurin

    Carson, like the rest, are such ignorant assholes. Okay, so the reason you got a job back in 1969, when he would have been 18, is because wages were nice and low. And now, the reason black kids can’t get a job is because the minimum wage is too damn high. Right.
    Federal minimum wage today $7.25
    1969 $1.30 (2015 adj. $8.43)
    he got a raise the next year
    1970 $1.45 (2015 adj. $8.89)
    and the next year
    1971 $1.60 (2015 adj. $9.40)
    Inflation, how does work?

  74. 74.

    PaulW

    I’m too busy NaNo-ing and coming down with a viral flu thingee. So I’m in no mood for shenanigans.

    Also, I need your word counts. YOUR NOVELS MUST BE DONE. IT HAS BEEN FORETOLD.

  75. 75.

    Corner Stone

    CEOs get paid 300X their average worker because a city somewhere has a Democratic Mayor?
    Rand Paul, you so silly.

  76. 76.

    PsiFighter37

    These guys are complete liars. Shameless that none of the moderators push back, but of course Rupert probably told them to be docile after the pushback on CNBC last time.

  78. 78.

    Misterpuff

    Rand: Largest Income Disparity in Dem Cities.

    Rand, that’s because even the most regressive billionaire won’t live in your or any other Repug shithole state.

  83. 83.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @geg6: Amazing. But I mean he specifically touted the 1920s and its “tremendous growth” as what he would recreate if elected President. Do they actually think that all was well until FDR became President in 1933 and invented a time machine to go back to the late 1920s and crash everything with his socialist policies?

    You know what — I don’t want to know. I fear the answer is yes.

  84. 84.

    Really?

    Just saw some insanely idiotic ad from Discovery about RACING EXTINCTION!!!11

    Bring on the comet.

  85. 85.

    Mandalay

    @Apex802:

    Carly, answering the question she hoped she’d get.

    What I saw was “Carly completely ignoring the question”.

    I am on the verge of giving up on this one. So far it’s worthless. The moderators are shit scared of pushing back, and the candidates are just ignoring the questions and saying whatever they rehearsed in front of the bathroom mirror this morning.

  86. 86.

    David Koch

    Kasich – If elected I will balance the budget by replacing MEdicare with Blood Letting and Leech Therapy.

  87. 87.

    oldgold

    CEO/ worker wage disparity is the fault of Democraric Mayors. Hahahahaha!

    This is the worst collection of Presidential candidates in my long lifetime.

  88. 88.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Large parts of the country, including parts inhabited by a piece of the Republican base, are really not doing well at all. I could see that if you lived in a collapsing rural area you’d figure the economic recovery was a complete fraud.

  89. 89.

    Anoniminous

    Paul “The bottom line is, if you want less income inequality, move to a city with a Republican mayor, or a state with a Republican governor.””

    Yeah, like Kansas.

  98. 98.

    Renie

    they all think our wages are too high but their combined wealth is $4.6bn – most is tRump’s but other than Rubio I believe they are all in the 1% (source: Guardian)

  100. 100.

    mdblanche

    @dmsilev: My neighborhood must have a lot of desperate singles. When I tried searching for “is (candidate)” I kept getting “married” as the auto-complete option. Except for Santorum and Graham. They may be desperate but they’re not that desperate.

  104. 104.

    dmsilev

    Trump: “You should let Jeb speak”.

    That’s probably the clearest indication yet that Jeb? is toast.

  105. 105.

    jurassicpork

    The one place I want to be right now more than any other on earth is Larry David’s living room.

    Meanwhile, if you can’t stand the DSM V come to life and are craving sanity and intelligence, I’m holding a virtual book sale at my place. Every title I’ve ever published is going at rock bottom prices.

  106. 106.

    Shrillhouse

    Serious question: Is Carson fully conscious?

    He always sounds to me like he’s coming out of a coma….

  107. 107.

    David Koch

    They’re really slipping – It took a half hour to mention Reagan, and then in an unfavorable light

  113. 113.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Matt McIrvin: Oh I don’t disagree that things aren’t great and especially in specific areas. Also it’s been a crappy, lackluster recovery that took far too long, because everyone jumped on the austerity bandwagon, even Obama at one point in 2011. Not as bad as the UK, but still. But the economic news has all been good lately, so it’s just a weird time for them to use that particular tack, usually if one things goes the opposite of what they claim, they turn to something else, gays or god or whatever.

  115. 115.

    Betty Cracker

    And Trump’s NYC “on line” construction confuses millions of Republicans, who now imagine Mexicans sneaking into the US through a series of tubes…

  117. 117.

    dedc79

    Did fox give Rubio his questions in advance? I ask because he sure seems to have his answers memorized.

  128. 128.

    Corner Stone

    The “secret sauce” of America is mayo and thousand island mixed together. There. I said it.

  129. 129.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @mai naem mobile:

    I am not really familiar with her, although I know her name and I think I read a magazine article about her 15-20 years ago. But I’ve been thinking that between Maria and Carly tonight, we’re probably looking at enough money spent on Botox to finance a coup in a small dictatorship.

  131. 131.

    Mary G

    You guys are brave. I can’t even read the live blog all the way through this time. Glad to hear that Jeb continues to suck.

  133. 133.

    Anoniminous

    Fiona is a Silicon Valley professional. She has Teh Sauce! She knows how to take a leading, highly respected, global business and plow it into the ground.

  134. 134.

    Corner Stone

    “Yes, hi. I’d like to speak to someone who can help me, please. Yes, I’m looking to understand what your costs are for a 40 year old woman who needs long term cancer treatment. No, no I’m not wealthy. I work as an HR assista…hello? Hello, are you there?”

  135. 135.

    Mike in NC

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Repubs will never admit that Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover were the architects of the Great Depression. They blame FDR, and assholes like George Will and Roger Ailes have pimped that stupid idea for many years.

  136. 136.

    Rob

    Debate is off, wine and whiskey are being drunk, blogs and twitters are being looked at. Shoegaze music is on the radio.

  138. 138.

    mai naem mobile

    Because I’m so shallow, I want to note that Fiorinas top looks like a Hanes sweatshirt and Cruz visibly appears to be losing hair at each debate. His.head will look like Jason Alexanders by election day.

  139. 139.

    Corner Stone

    @Anoniminous:

    She knows how to take a leading, highly respected, global business and plow it into the ground.

    Even more importantly, she knows how to become personally fabulously wealthy while doing so! It’s the American Dream we all will one day have a shot at!

  141. 141.

    Thoughtful Today

    …

    Sure, they’d murder Baby Hitler, but would the GOP candidates give Hitler’s mom an abortion? https://t.co/hVdDrfqsl0

    — Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) November 9, 2015

    The question to anti-choice militants:

    Would you give Hitler’s mom an abortion?

  143. 143.

    David Koch

    Fiorina is right – why can’t people unconscious from an auto wreck shop for their health care

  147. 147.

    Mandalay

    @dedc79:

    Did fox give Rubio his questions in advance? I ask because he sure seems to have his answers memorized.

    They didn’t need to, because the questions being asked are completely irrelevant in this debate anyway.

    Rubio’s answer is always the same: “immigrant parents”…”seeking a better life”…”my father was a bartender”…”American Dream”…”21st century”….

    And the moderators have their tongues so far up the candidates’ asses that their faces are covered in shit. Worthless servile scum.

  149. 149.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Corner Stone:

    You have a problem with the way Facebook does its metrics? Listen, I participate in every Facebook poll (not to mention the vocabulary tests and which Disney princess is most like me) so I know for a fact they are legit.

  152. 152.

    SFAW

    @mai naem mobile:

    His.head will look like Jason Alexanders by election day.

    Actually, if he started looking like Jason Alexander, it might be an improvement.

    (And THAT sentence has never before been uttered — well, written — in these United States.)

  156. 156.

    Corner Stone

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    so I know for a fact they are legit

    Point of order here. My benevolent overlord, and one of my only two friends, Bella Q, has requested we repurpose “legit” to restore it back to it’s former glory of “legitimate”. As a wordsmith yourself I am sure you can get on board her campaign.

  162. 162.

    Schlemazel

    @PaulW:
    My favorite line is, “This boy doesn’t know when he is losing . . . doesn’t know when he is winning either, he has no external sensory perception what so ever”

    that fits all of the 16 GOP field.

  166. 166.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Corner Stone:

    That’s actually funny, although you couldn’t have known it, because as far as I know I have never — well, hardly ever — used “legit” before that comment!

  171. 171.

    Corner Stone

    Rubio has a lot of really heavily memorized answers. None of them go with the question he was asked, but he certainly has them memorized well.

  172. 172.

    Betty Cracker

    Pretty sure Cruz named Commerce twice when listing the five agencies he’d eliminate. Dodged a Rick Perry “oops” moment there…

  174. 174.

    mai naem mobile

    Can you imagine what Jeb is thinking? He’s got to be thinking ten times what Hillary was thinking of Obama in ’08. ‘WTF? I’m the brother and son of POTUS’s and this no nothing nutcase and blowhard reality show star are beating me?’

  177. 177.

    Corner Stone

    Anyways, something like Rubio just handed Rand’s ass to him. He went 9/11 on him off a rebuttal to a question on EITC.

  178. 178.

    Corner Stone

    Does Trump understand we finance the largest military in the world by the next 9 largest combined?

  179. 179.

    Mandalay

    @Corner Stone:

    Ted Cruz is fucking crazy. His tax plan is fucking nonsense crazy.

    Didn’t he (very rapidly) say that the cost of his plan over 10 years was $3.1 trillion???

    I guess Ted will address waste, fraud and abuse to cover that.

  181. 181.

    Zinsky

    “The IRS tax code has more words than the Bible” — Ted Cruz

    And these means exactly what, fuckwad? What a stupid fucking comment! How can anyone with an IQ larger than their shoe size think this comment makes any sense??

  190. 190.

    Another Holocene Human

    @SFAW: Jason Alexander came to my no good burgh to rally volunteers to hit the phones and pavement for Barack Obama. He is an okay guy in my book. A mensch. (Even if I always privately thought his characters were lame.) IMO there’s nothing wrong with the way he looks.

  194. 194.

    Corner Stone

    Nigeria? That’s full of black people. What amount of fucks do we give about terrorist attacks in that dark hellhole?

  198. 198.

    Betty Cracker

    Carson wonders how to make jihadists look like “losers” — give them a podium at the next GOP debate?

  200. 200.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Do you suppose Carson took a few too many hits from the anaesthesia mask? He has a seriously creepy and weird affect.

  204. 204.

    Corner Stone

    My FBN feed looks like it hired the BJ website redesign team for this debate. Keeps cutting to black off and on. And I don’t mean Bennie the Blade.

  205. 205.

    Amir Khalid

    When it comes to Middle East policy, Dr Ben is as shallow a thinker as any other Republican candidate.

  207. 207.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Gotta say I liked Carly’s line — “I’ve also met Vladimir Putin. Not in a green room. In a meeting.”

    Oh SNAP, Donald.

  208. 208.

    Amir Khalid

    The Guardian:

    Trump is back in. He goes on a rant about how the United States “should have kept the oil” in Iraq.

    This man is ignorant of international law.

  217. 217.

    Corner Stone

    @Baud: He has been really populist and out there all night. May have taken it out of him to go so hard early. Or he may have had a stroke.

  218. 218.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    According to Kasich, we have no better ally in the world beside Israel, the United Kingdom is on line 2 Governor.

  228. 228.

    Corner Stone

    @Renie:

    will the VSP say ?JEB? did well?

    Jeb did not do well.
    I think Rubio and Kasich made ground in their specific arenas.
    Cruz sucked balls, Carly lied all the time, Trump held steady, Rand is a joke and Carson is wayyy out in center field.

  229. 229.

    sukabi

    Read thru the thread, kind of missing RtR. !Jeb¡s little puppet was good for a few laughs…want me a Brinks Truck.

  230. 230.

    SFAW

    @Another Holocene Human:

    He is an okay guy in my book.

    Not surprised. My comment had nothing to do with whether he’s a good guy, of course.

    IMO there’s nothing wrong with the way he looks.

    Yes, he’s quite stunning, in a clasically-nebbishy way.

  231. 231.

    Kay

    @Anoniminous:

    Trump is against the TPP. First thing I’ve heard from Muskrat Head that I agree with.

    He’s right too. The rules of origin deregulation means China can provide more and more components and just pass through another country that is a party to the deal as long as the other country assembles. I’m not clear how we “beat China to the punch” with this deal. It looks to me like they made out great.

  235. 235.

    Corner Stone

    I am sorry but Ben Carson was made to be the Bad Lip Reading candidate. It’s so bad I simply can not ignore it.

  237. 237.

    SFAW

    @Zinsky:

    How can anyone with an IQ larger than their shoe size think this comment makes any sense??

    You realize that the intersection of Rethug primary voters and your qualifier is a Null Set, right?

  238. 238.

    Nate Dawg

    Once again, Dr. Carson has no idea of what economic externalization is. No idea that NOT having regulation has a real cost too. What a stupid fucking man.

  242. 242.

    Anoniminous

    @Kay:

    US – China trade is complex. (how’s that for understatement? :-) Since we aren’t buying their cheap consumer goods anymore the TPP people had to give them something so they wouldn’t dump the eleventy trillion in bonds, cash, and cash equivalents they hold. In reality, high-tech manufacturing left these shores decades ago, the US no longer has the infrastructure and JIT networks needed to do high-tech manufacturing anyway so might as well let the ChiComs have what they already have & not make a fuss.

  257. 257.

    Mandalay

    Cavuto twice asked Cruz if he really would do nothing if the Bank of America was about to fail.

    Straight-talking-Ted realized he had blown it, looked confused and lost, and waffled.

  258. 258.

    Nate Dawg

    This is just an alternate reality–inflation exists, the government caused the economic crisis, raising wages ways leads to lowered employment, and on and on and on.

  261. 261.

    agorabum

    @Renie: That doesn’t make sense; how can Cuomo be doing something good and Christie bad? I heard there is no difference between the parties. Does not compute…

  264. 264.

    Corner Stone

    How good is it that the first commercial after the hard break is a climate change coming let’s do something about it now, Pope Francis spot.
    Gold, Jerry! That’s pure gold!

  265. 265.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    No, it;s not new. Kasich supports it and so does Portman. Portman is up in ’16 and Ted Strickland will use it against him.

    Portman knows he’s vulnerable on it. I once met a group of paid campaigners for Portman who were passing out flyers saying Portman supports “fair trade”, in 2010. “Fair trade” is a specific trade position in Ohio. It means a certain set of policies. Using “fair trade” was meant to deceive people- it’s like a shortcut- there are “fair” traders and “free” traders. Portman is a free trader. Sherrod Brown is a fair trader.

    It’s just hugely important here, because of things like this:

    The signing bonuses paid by Fiat Chrysler and General Motors as part of their new contracts with the United Auto Workers will pour an estimated $42.5 million into the local economy just in time for the holiday shopping season.

    Everyone benefits. Whatever they negotiate is basically injected right into the local economy. Obama’s trade argument, where companies make more so that will eventually trickle down to wages….that just pales in comparison to this immediate reality.

  274. 274.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    We abandoned Israel, really Ted? Who was that guy who met with Obama in the Oval this week? Looked like Bibi.

  283. 283.

    SiubhanDuinne

    This is petty and catty and lookist, but honestly, I’m not sure how Maria B. can even move her lips to form words given all the collagen she has apparently had injected.

  285. 285.

    Mandalay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Someone should let Rubio know the 21st century started awhile back…

    Right – he uses that phrase in every answer.

    Perhaps his minders told him that it somehow associates him with the future or something, but it just sounds scripted and stupid. Especially when he says it for the ninth time.

  286. 286.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    They should stop making fun of people who criticize this trade deal because if they understand this trade deal less than Donald Trump does, they don’t understand it at all, so probably aren’t in a position to be sneering.

    This is from the experts on Twitter:

    “You might want to point out that China isn’t part of this deal.”

    Except what he said was basically correct. China can use it as a back door.

  287. 287.

    Corner Stone

    Carly talking about rich getting richer and poor getting poorer while the middle class is crushed is so far beyond the shit it is unbelievable.

  290. 290.

    Kay

    @Corner Stone:

    It’s interesting to me only to the extent that Republicans feel they have to say it. That by itself is pretty big, if you remember way back to 2012 when they wanted to change Labor Day to “job creators day”.

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