It’s fitting that Thursday’s GOP debate took place in the University of Houston’s Moore’s Opera Center. This was the last debate before Super Tuesday, when 595 delegates are at stake, and the first since Donald Trump has emerged as the probable nominee based on his poll and delegate numbers.
The pressure was on Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz to avoid being definitely cast in supporting roles. Add to this the setting — Cruz’s home state of Texas, with its large Hispanic population and border with Mexico — and you had the makings of a whole lot of drama.
Tonight Rubio showed new strengths, and Trump new weaknesses. Cruz and Rubio mostly abstained from criticizing each other, focusing their energies on painting Trump as an outsider who cares about deals first and principles after. On questions about immigration, healthcare, foreign policy and other topics, Cruz and Rubio turned what Trump presents as assets — his connections, his ability to negotiate, his financial largesse — into negatives: a lack of commitment to Republican politicians and ideals.
And so we heard how Trump wrote checks for years to Democratic politicians; how his positions on health care, Israel, and other issues resemble President Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s; and how he talks one thing and does another, for example in hiring foreign guest workers rather than Americans at his Palm Beach club.
Trump hit back hard, not only with his usual insults (calling Rubio a “choke artist” and Cruz a “liar,”) but by emphasizing his experience in job creation and his inside knowledge of sectors of American business from insurance to construction.
The desire to take down Trump had one side effect: often the vitriolic and humorous exchanges were more memorable than the proposals these three advanced. John Kasich’s policy responses, instead, had depth and thoughtfulness, the fruit of his extensive experience. But Kasich is not the one attracting delegates and adulation. He will stay in the race through the Ohio primary, but after that it’s likely that he and Carson will both be out.
Cruz stuck to his identity as the GOP pack’s ideological purist and anti-Establishment candidate, using this as a base to attack Trump as a likely sell-out. Cruz also took on the Pandora’s box of Trump’s finances, which has just become a focus for politicians and the media. Bringing up the scrutiny of Hillary Clinton’s finances, Cruz warned of the damage to the GOP from having a candidate (Trump) who might receive the same treatment.
Rubio was the evening’s star as he carried out his task: demolishing Trump with every weapon available. He joined Cruz in poking holes in the glossy façade of Trump’s financial empire, but focused mostly on exposing the vagueness of Trump’s propositions. When Rubio tried to show that Trump’s repetition of phrases on health care was a cover for a lack of concrete ideas, Trump fell into his trap.
Rubio also effectively showed the limitations of Trump’s mentality — that everything in life can be seen as a deal. Asked about his attitude on the Israeli-Palestinian problem, Trump said he supported Israel but could not take sides if he were to be an effective negotiator. “The Palestinians are not a real estate deal, Donald,” Rubio commented.
Trump remained true to himself, coming across as the group’s political “moderate,” such as when he praised Planned Parenthood for saving the lives of million of women. But his answer to the charge leveled against him of being too bipartisan shows the dilemma he presents for the GOP: “I have always contributed to both sides. I am a businessman.” For Trump, relationships as they lead to profit come first, ideology after.
The Houston Opera Center’s next production will be Anna Karenina. “Happy families are all alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” reads the first line of Leo Tolstoy’s novel from which the opera was adapted. The GOP is one unhappy family right now, with Trump in the part of the uncle who came for tea and is now a disruptive household presence. What will the next act bring?
