The Presidential election of 2016 is slightly less than one year away, and, to celebrate, Raptor Report has written a synopsis of each of the most recent presidential debates from each party. Agree with a candidate's points? Disagree? Battle it out in the comments.
GOP This past Tuesday the eight leading GOP presidential candidates assembled in Milwaukee for the third Republican Presidential debate, and we now have a better understanding of who the ultimate nominee may be. This round, the focus was on the economy: the Fox Business Network and The Wall Street Journal teamed up to determine each candidate’s position on many of the most pressing economic issues of today. The content and questions of this debate were under intense scrutiny after the previous debate was declared a liberal set-up; thankfully, each candidate seemed to leave happy, even though the questions were tenuously related to the economy. As the leading candidate and initial underdog of the Republican party, CEO Donald Trump yet again showed that he was reluctant to be reserved; instead, his trademark aggression was on full display. Arguably his most memorable moment on stage was not a radical policy or idea, but a comment made when Fiorina attempted to make her voice heard during a contentious discussion: “Why does she keep interrupting everybody?” Trump declared. To put it mildly, the audience was less than amused with his outburst. They did, however, seem to be pleased with Trump’s solution for our immigration crisis: mass deportations. Even when he cited the inhumane and widely criticized “Operation Wetback” as the inspiration for his plan, the audience was not dissuaded. And, despite the protests of other candidates about the inefficiency of such a plan, Trump stayed true to his conviction that it was an ideal way to get America back on track. The other leading candidate, Dr. Ben Carson, also continued with his normal subdued approach. He eloquently and directly addressed each question, citing a high minimum wage as the leading cause of poverty in black communities and claiming that recent discrepancies in his book and beliefs were lies. His tranquility was refreshing next to Trump’s in-your-face demeanor, but yet Carson never appeared weak like many of the other candidates did. Senator Marco Rubio has debatably the strongest performance of the night, hitting his immigrant background and rags-to-riches story hard. His ideas, including increased vocational training, more of an emphasis on businesses, and more vigilance with Russia, though not revolutionary, were met with loud applause and cheers from the audience. Perhaps Rubio is poised to become the new frontrunner. Senator Ted Cruz also had a strong night. As certain Republicans like Bush and Kasich adopt more moderate policies, Cruz is emerging as a far-right alternative to the brazen Trump and composed Carson. Aggressive but not obnoxious, with strong views on immigration and the Middle East, Cruz, like Rubio, is far from out of the race at this point. Meanwhile, John Kasich and Rand Paul failed to assert their dominance, which is key in any high-stakes political situation. In fact, their performances were so forgettable that many foresee the debate stage as only having six podiums rather than eight. Unlike Kasich and Paul, Governor Jeb Bush did a better job remaining vigorous and witty than his previous lackluster performances. Still, he did not make a particularly strong impression, other than to strongly disagree with Trump on his mass deportation proposal. Bush has clearly made great strides, but he must continue to work to be perceived as presidential. Though it would not be impossible, it seems like there will not be another Bush in the White House. Finally, Carly Fiorina had an excellent performance in terms of assertiveness and strength. However, her debate prowess does not seem to translate to voters, as her poll numbers have stayed low. If a display of that caliber still cannot convince voters that Fiorina is qualified, then it seems that she, too, is out for the count. This debate served not only to address the issues of our economy, but also helped many likely voters see who really could be our commander-in-chief. After Tuesday, it seems we can pretty much count out Fiorina, Paul, Kasich, and Bush, which leaves us with four realistic potential nominees. With the once-endless crowd of candidates thinning, and the issues of foreign security becoming more and more pressing, the next debate in December is shaping up to be a critical point in the presidential election. | Democratic All eyes were on the three Democratic front-runners during Saturday night's debate as the people of our great nation watched former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton; Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders; and former Maryland Governor, Martin O'Malley solemnly take the stage in the swing-state of Iowa. However, as previous topics such as tax reform bills and raising the minimum wage were resurfaced, the question on everyone’s mind remained, “What will candidates do in order to prevent terror attacks - such as the ones in Paris - from happening?” To answer that question a moment of silence was taken for the victims of the Paris attack, followed by proposals from each of the three candidates to take the fight to ISIS. O'Malley agreed with Clinton and Sanders by saying, “ISIS, make no mistake about this, is an evil in this world.” He then stepped out of Clinton’s shadow by disagreeing with her claim that America should not take action, “It is America’s fight; but it cannot be solely America’s fight.” Although terror attacks are unarguably one of America’s biggest threats, did the topic negatively reshape the debate? As the debate continued, multiple attempts were made by Bernie Sanders to guide his fellow candidates back to concerns such as climate change, the defense budget, and healthcare. He even pointed out that “Climate change is directly related to global terrorism.” Despite the fact that the candidates disagreed on how to approach the war against ISIS, they did agree on one subject: Raising the minimum wage. Later in the debate, Sanders firmly told people, “We have got to move the minimum wage to a living wage to fifteen dollars an hour, and I apologize to nobody for that.” However, Martin O’Malley was one step ahead of Sanders by pointing out that - as governor - he had raised the minimum wage, making the state of Maryland number one for rising eunupenuars. O’Malley applied it nationally by affirming, “The more money our people earn, the more money they spend, and the more our economy grows.” In addition, as opposed to insulting his fellow Democratic candidates, O’Malley trumped Donald Trump by calling him an “immigrant-bashing, carnival barker,” gaining him the biggest applause of the night. Sanders then humored the crowd saying, “I’m not that much of a socialist compared to Eisenhower.” When accused of being the candidate of Wall Street, Hillary Clinton rebutted with, “I go after all of Wall Street, not just the big banks.” Adding to that, she made a remarked about how she rebuilt Wall Street after the 9/11 attacks, which some took as offensive given the recent attacks in Paris. Clinton confidently played the gender card by claiming that sixty-percent of her donors were women, not Wall Street bankers. To begin her closing statement, Clinton told the audience, “I heard a lot about me in this debate, and I’m going to keep talking about and thinking about you, because ultimately I believe the President’s job is to do everything possible, everything that she can do to lift up the people of this country starting with our children and moving forward.” In the last fifteen minutes of the debate, the Democratic hopefuls were asked what personal crisis they have faced that would prepare them for a possible crisis subsequent to their inauguration. Clinton charmed the audience by starting her answer with, “There are so many, I don’t know which one.” Although according to a TIME Magazine poll on Sunday morning, eighty percent of Americans believed that Sanders won the debate, some of his ideas failed to be coherent with his remarks. In his closing statement, Sanders spoke mainly to the youth. “We need a political revolution. Millions of people are gonna have to stand up, turn off the T. V., get involved in the political process, and tell the big-money interests that we are taking back our country.” Despite the fact that many say that he did not leave the debate a winner, O’Malley walked off the stage as a differentiated candidate, his closing statement resonating with the American people. “We are at the threshold of a new era of American progress… There is no challenge too great for the United States to confront, provided we have the courage to put forward new leadership that can move us to those better, and safer, and more prosperous days.” The three candidates who hope to be number forty-five did not only discuss pertinent issues facing America and its people, but they also provided more material for Saturday Night Live’s political skits. |
Written by: Leily Rezvani, Jenna Welsh, and Kirsten Zornado