GOP Forum Fireworks In Cleveland

We’re less than six months away from the first Presidential Primary contest, the Feb. 2 Iowa Caucus. With the Republican primary field now up to 17 candidates, the Fox News Channel held the first of 12 forums in Cleveland last week.
With such a large field, FNC actually held two forums. The 10 candidates with the highest average poll numbers appeared in prime time, and the seven candidates with the lowest polling numbers appeared at 5 p.m. Candidate Carly Fiorina dubbed it the “Happy Hour Debate.”
The early forum was free-flowing with candidates given a chance to discuss policy positions. Most observers believe Fiorina performed the best. She attacked Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton for being dishonest about the Benghazi, Libya consulate attack and storing classified e-mails in an in-home server and her continued support for Planned Parenthood.
Fiorina also struck a nerve going after career politicians. She said, “I’m not a member of the member of the political class.” She told of her success story of rising from being a secretary at a small real estate firm to becoming the Chief Executive Officer at Hewlett-Packard. She stood out at the May Freedom Summit in Greenville and has demonstrated a mastery of foreign policy issues and cyber-security.
The prime time forum was a lot more contentious and there is no clear choice for which candidate performed the best. The FNC moderators have been widely criticized for their narrowly focused questions that didn’t give candidates a chance to explain their positions on policy issues. Moderator Megyn Kelly, a former lawyer, behaved as if she were interrogating witnesses in the courtroom.
Kelly went after real estate executive Donald Trump at the outset by accusing him of insulting women on his Twitter account. In typical Trump fashion, he turned the tables and said, “That only applies to Rosie O’Donnell.” The crowd erupted in laughter.
Moderator Chris Wallace went after Trump for his tone in the campaign. He turned that around by saying, “ISIS is cutting off the heads of Christians and we’re facing Medieval times at the border. We don’t have time to worry about ‘tone.’ We need to take action and get the job done!”
There were many bright spots in the prime time forum. Sen. Ted Cruz went after the “Washington Cartel,” the networks of Lobbyists and special interest groups who fund candidates and dictate policy. He came out hard against federal agencies like the IRS which are violating the rights of citizens. He also spoke out about ending amnesty for illegal aliens and having a strategy to wipe out the ISIS terrorist organization.
Cruz and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson each received only about 6 minutes of time on camera during the two hour forum. By contrast, the FNC moderators were on camera 31 percent of the time (37 minutes). Carson used humor about being ignored and also took a shot at the lack of brainpower in Washington. He spoke of picking up the baton of freedom and passing it on to future generations.
Sen. Marco Rubio attacked Hillary Clinton for not understanding ordinary people who have to live paycheck-to-paycheck. His Cuban immigrant parents worked as a bartender and a maid. He also noted that he understands what it is like for college students in our sluggish economy with heavy student loan debt and few opportunities for high-paying jobs.
Gov. Mike Huckabee was pressed about how we can maintain full benefits in the Social Security program. He responded by stating that his tax reform plan, the FairTax, would expand the Social Security tax base to more than 300 Million consumers rather than 130 Million employees and their employers. In 2014, Social Security paid out $80 Billion more in benefits than the program collected in payroll taxes.
Many of the candidates stated how many federal policies violate the U.S. Constitution. Sen. Rand Paul focused on the National Security Agency’s data-mining program, which intercepts communications without a warrant, in violation of the 4th Amendment.
People are definitely interested in the Presidential campaign. FNC had an estimated audience of 24 Million. The next forum is Sept. 16 at the Reagan Presidential Library in California. South Carolina will host a forum Sat., Feb. 13 at a site yet to be chosen. That is just one week before the Feb. 20 Presidential primary. Stay tuned – it’s going to be a wild ride!
John Steinberger is the former chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party, a leading Fair Tax advocate, and a West Ashley resident. He can be reached at John.steinberger@scfairtax.org.