The Republican candidates faced off tonight in the third GOP debate from the University of Colorado in Boulder. This event was hosted by CNBC and moderated by Carl Quintanilla, Becky Quick, and John Harwood. The top candidates polling at least three percent in a selection of national polls were included in the primetime debate.
See update below about CNBC debate video.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
CNBC’s “The Republican Presidential Debate: Your Money, Your Vote”
Candidates: Trump, Carson, Rubio, Bush, Fiorina, Cruz, Huckabee, Christie, Kasich, Paul
The undercard debate from the 6pm hour:
Candidates: Santorum, Pataki, Graham, Jindal
Report from the Washington Post:
The two front-runners have spent most of the third GOP debate in an unusual place – the background – while the more experienced candidates battled fiercely against each other and the debate’s moderators.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush tangled with Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) over Rubio’s record of absences in the Senate, though Rubio got the better of Bush with a sharp comeback. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee argued over Social Security, and whether benefits should be cut in order to ensure an adequate supply of funds in the future. Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) criticized the debate’s moderators for asking too-negative questions. Ohio Gov. John Kasich attacked a whole swath of his colleagues, calling their proposals far-fetched.
Largely left out in all that were Donald Trump, the billionaire who’s led this race for months, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, now challenging Trump for the top spot. As the debate neared the one-hour mark, the bombastic Trump had been uncharacteristically quiet.
Jeb Bush and John Kasich were the two main candidates launching attacks against the others on stage, though they mostly fell flat. In fact, Rubio tore into Jeb and really put him to shame over the question of whether Rubio’s been missing too many votes in the Senate while running for president. That’s a debatable topic, but Rubio was clearly ready for it and Bush was not.
Donald Trump was pretty mild, not getting a lot of attention. Ted Cruz finally came to life and had some serious zingers against the moderators and the entirety of the media. Ben Carson continued in his quiet style, not attacking but merely speaking in a straightforward manner about his beliefs and policies.
Overall, I’m not sure how this debate will move the needle. If anything, I think that Rubio and Cruz helped themselves while Trump and Carson probably didn’t hurt themselves. Rand Paul didn’t have many memorable answers but he also didn’t get many questions either. Chris Christie had some strong answers but I think his window has closed to gain any traction.
Update
CNBC has removed all access to the October 28 debate video. Here is a statement from CNBC replying to my email inquiry:
Thank you for your patience as we got back to you. At this time, the full video is not available on CNBC.com. Selection and posting of videos/clips is made at the discretion of CNBC and CNBC does not guarantee that videos will be posted at certain times.
I have included a link to the transcript of the “Your Money, Your Vote: The Republican Presidential Debate”
If anyone has a link to the debate, please post in the comments below. CNBC has worked hard to remove the video from every source imaginable.
Contact CNBC and let them know you’d like access to the full debate video from October 28, 2015.
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