WASHINGTON
While the leading 11 Republican candidates share no shortage of policy differences, all but a single candidate apparently agreed on one thing in Wednesday night’s debate: front-runner Donald Trump is a problem.
It shouldn’t take long to think of who the outlier was.
"I think really there is a sophomoric quality that is entertaining about Mr. Trump," Sen. Rand Paul said.
In one of the night’s more heated exchanges, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, standing beside the real estate mogul, asked that Trump apologize for remarks he made insinuating that Bush’s wife, a Mexico-born U.S.-citizen, has caused Bush to be soft on immigration.
"To subject my wife into the middle of a raucous political conversation was completely inappropriate and I hope you apologize for that, Donald," Bush told Trump.
Trump’s response? "I won't do that because I said nothing wrong, but I do hear she's a lovely woman.”
When Trump attacked Bush’s brother, former President George W. Bush, the junior Bush briefly paused, pointed to Trump and said, “As it relates to my brother, there’s one thing I know for sure: he kept us safe.”
Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has climbed into a steady second place among his Republican peers, further distanced himself from the elder Bush, saying that rather than pursue war, the former president should have used "the bully pulpit to galvanize everybody – business, industry, academia – behind a national goal."
"There are smart ways to do things and there are muscular ways to do things. And sometimes you have to look at both of those to come up with the right solution," he said.
But Trump’s prior comments caused no shortage of problems for the front-runner.
In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Trump lambasted former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, saying, “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?! I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?”
When asked to respond Wednesday night, Fiorina’s reply got a roaring ovation.
“I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said,” she said calmly, prompting an apparently unwelcome reply from Trump.
“I think she’s got a beautiful face, and I think she’s a beautiful woman,” he said as Fiorina looked on coolly.
Beyond the Trump show, Monday night’s leading Republican candidates clashed on a myriad of policy issues – domestic and foreign.
Amongst a field of Republican hopefuls who largely advocated for greater intervention in Middle East conflicts, Paul, the Kentucky senator, urged his fellow hopefuls to recall the lessons of American intervention in the region.
“The Iraq War backfired and didn't help us, and we're still paying the repercussions,” Paul said. “If you want boots on the ground and want them to be our sons or daughters, you've got 14 other choices.”
"I think ISIS would be in charge of Syria if we'd bombed Assad," Paul said of the Syrian conflict.
Trump's policy prescription for the crisis was, expectedly, brief.
"We're fighting ISIS. ISIS is fighting Syria. Why don't we let them fight each other and pick up the pieces?" he asked.
In later remarks, Bush said, "Your lack of understanding about how the world works is really dangerous."
Asked how she would respond to tense relations with Russia, Fiorina said she would not engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin, "because the only way he will stop is to sense strength and resolve on the other side."
In an earlier debate consisting of the four lowest polling Republican candidates - former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former New York Gov. George Pataki and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham - Trump again was a focus of contention.
At the debate’s onset, the candidates were asked about the real estate mogul, to which Jindal replied that it was not enough just to attack Trump because he "doesn't care about policy." Jindal continued, calling Trump a “narcissist who only believes in himself”.
Pataki said Trump was “unfit” to be president. “This is an important election with an enormous number of challenges facing the American people,” he said, “and the first four questions are about Donald Trump”.
And Graham criticized the billionaire for absorbing foreign policy from television.
In early August, the first debate took place with the seven lowest polling Republican presidential candidates.
Rick Perry, who was a candidate in the former debate, suspended his campaign, and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore was unable to participate in Wednesday night’s debate, as his polling was below a 1 percent threshold. Fiorina was the sole candidate to rise in prominence to the top-tier debate.
