As the Brits say, when Christie takes you down, your finished!
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-republican-debate-repeat-line-chris-christie
Marco Rubio turns into 'Marcobot' in disastrous Republican debate gaffe
Defenders of the long, arduous process by which the United States elects a president often say the marathon campaign’s chief value is that it finds people out. On Saturday night that old saw was confirmed once again – and the candidate being found out was Marco Rubio.
The freshman Florida senator went into the final Republican debate before New Hampshire votes on Tuesday as the rising favourite. Many tipped him if not to win outright then at least to become the standard bearer of the party’s establishment or (relatively) moderate wing, the man who could take on the ultra-conservative Ted Cruz or the untamed fire-breather Donald Trump. A good performance tonight would seal the deal.
Instead, Rubio had a disaster. His chief antagonist was New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who seized the earliest opportunity to put the young senator through the mincer. Building on a theme that he had tried out at a packed rally earlier that day, Christie taunted Rubio as a callow ingenue who could do no more than regurgitate a “memorized 25-second speech”.
Rubio proceeded to make Christie’s point for him. Instead of answering the question put to him, he repeated the soundbite he had just uttered – a riff about Barack Obama having a deliberate plan to transform America. Christie pointed this out to the watching audience, Rubio doing exactly as he had described, retreating to the comfort zone of a well-rehearsed stump speech. Rubio promptly repeated the soundbite again.
Still, Christie does not have the constituency of those repelled by Trump and Cruz all to himself. He had competition from two other members of the governor class: Ohio’s John Kasich and the onetime presumed frontrunner Jeb Bush of Florida. Both did better than they had in previous encounters. Bush caught the eye when he took on Trump over the “eminent domain” rule. The property tycoon tried to swat Bush aside by suggesting Bush was trying to play the “tough guy”. Referring to a specific case, Bush shot back: “How tough is it to take property from an old woman?”
Kasich fired off no zingers, but his aura of sunny competence might also play well with New Hampshire’s independents. Alone in refusing to go negative against his opponents, he was the candidate of good, if unthrilling, governance. Some Republican activists believe the Ohio governor may spring the big surprise of Tuesday night: that, on the quiet, he has won over voters one by one, speaking at no fewer than 100 town hall meetings in the state – including braving Friday’s snowstorm to address a few dozen folks in a barn in the village of Hollis for his 99th such gathering. He may not be the most focused speaker, but New Hampshire citizens respect that kind of attention.
Of course the big obstacle for all these hopefuls remains the man who stood at the centre of the stage and was granted both the first and last words. The polls still say Trump is in front, even if his lead is said to be shrinking. He had a good night in that he was not the chief target of the others’ attacks. He was able to repeat his usual lines about China and making the US a winner again, adding a pledge to “bring back waterboarding and bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding”.
But he was barely challenged. That’s because there was another man in the candidates’ sights. Marco Rubio was the designated victim – and he emerged looking younger, smaller and more vulnerable.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-republican-debate-repeat-line-chris-christie
Marco Rubio turns into 'Marcobot' in disastrous Republican debate gaffe
Defenders of the long, arduous process by which the United States elects a president often say the marathon campaign’s chief value is that it finds people out. On Saturday night that old saw was confirmed once again – and the candidate being found out was Marco Rubio.
The freshman Florida senator went into the final Republican debate before New Hampshire votes on Tuesday as the rising favourite. Many tipped him if not to win outright then at least to become the standard bearer of the party’s establishment or (relatively) moderate wing, the man who could take on the ultra-conservative Ted Cruz or the untamed fire-breather Donald Trump. A good performance tonight would seal the deal.
Instead, Rubio had a disaster. His chief antagonist was New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who seized the earliest opportunity to put the young senator through the mincer. Building on a theme that he had tried out at a packed rally earlier that day, Christie taunted Rubio as a callow ingenue who could do no more than regurgitate a “memorized 25-second speech”.
Rubio proceeded to make Christie’s point for him. Instead of answering the question put to him, he repeated the soundbite he had just uttered – a riff about Barack Obama having a deliberate plan to transform America. Christie pointed this out to the watching audience, Rubio doing exactly as he had described, retreating to the comfort zone of a well-rehearsed stump speech. Rubio promptly repeated the soundbite again.
Still, Christie does not have the constituency of those repelled by Trump and Cruz all to himself. He had competition from two other members of the governor class: Ohio’s John Kasich and the onetime presumed frontrunner Jeb Bush of Florida. Both did better than they had in previous encounters. Bush caught the eye when he took on Trump over the “eminent domain” rule. The property tycoon tried to swat Bush aside by suggesting Bush was trying to play the “tough guy”. Referring to a specific case, Bush shot back: “How tough is it to take property from an old woman?”
Kasich fired off no zingers, but his aura of sunny competence might also play well with New Hampshire’s independents. Alone in refusing to go negative against his opponents, he was the candidate of good, if unthrilling, governance. Some Republican activists believe the Ohio governor may spring the big surprise of Tuesday night: that, on the quiet, he has won over voters one by one, speaking at no fewer than 100 town hall meetings in the state – including braving Friday’s snowstorm to address a few dozen folks in a barn in the village of Hollis for his 99th such gathering. He may not be the most focused speaker, but New Hampshire citizens respect that kind of attention.
Of course the big obstacle for all these hopefuls remains the man who stood at the centre of the stage and was granted both the first and last words. The polls still say Trump is in front, even if his lead is said to be shrinking. He had a good night in that he was not the chief target of the others’ attacks. He was able to repeat his usual lines about China and making the US a winner again, adding a pledge to “bring back waterboarding and bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding”.
But he was barely challenged. That’s because there was another man in the candidates’ sights. Marco Rubio was the designated victim – and he emerged looking younger, smaller and more vulnerable.
