KAITLIN'S LANGEUAGE: Eight things to take away from the Republican debate

Kaitlin Lange is a junior journalism and politcal science major and writes "Kaitlin's Langeuage" for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Kaitlin at kllange@bsu.edu.

Kaitlin Lange

Presidential debates are weird. It's probably the only time you'll see a bunch of adults rudely interrupting each other and talking at the same exact time for about five seconds, over and over again. I will never be able to unsee the “Funnny or Die” video comparing all of the Republican candidates to children.

If you didn't get the chance to watch CNBC's Republican debate Oct. 28, here's what you should know.

1. The debate was between 10 of the Republican candidates: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie and John Kasich. Nine of the 10 candidates had participated in the first Republican debate. Fiorina was the only addition to the group.

2. For many of us, Trump is the candidate we all love to hate (except for those who are voting for him in the polls). He often makes outlandish statements that can be incredibly offensive. However, he seemed toned down during this debate. While Trump is still the frontrunner in many polls, he is no longer the front runner in the Iowa poll. Carson jumped past him last week. Perhaps Trump is changing his tactics. However, without all of the negative attention on Trump, he acted as a background character. 

3. The debate was still a chaotic mess for most of the time. The candidates rarely stopped talking when asked to by the moderators, and oftentimes there were three people speaking at once. As usual, the candidates attacked each other, starting with Kasich's jabs at Trump from the start.

Cruz seemed more interested in fighting with the moderators. He accused them of trying to focus on petty feuds between the candidates, instead of asking actual questions.

“The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media,” Cruz said, in response to a question from a moderator.

Though this could be true in part, it also could have been a way to dodge the question of whether Cruz is a problem-solver. It worked to his advantage, and Cruz received applause.

4. My No. 1 complaint about the debate was when fantasy football was brought up. Though maybe my friends in the sports department disagree, that hardly seems like a topic worthy of a presidential debate. Christie echoed my thoughts.

I was just waiting for the moderators to ask about the Mets-Royals game.

5. This debate was a relatively strong topic area for the Republicans. “Your money, your vote” focused on the economy more so than social issues. Economic policy is not a super touchy subject, where candidates can seem insensitive or racist. It is also a topic that can draw in the more Libertarian-leaning crowd. 

6. Debates like these make it easy to pinpoint differences between the Democratic and Republican parties. The Democratic candidates, in general, are more concerned with pay inequality and corporate corruption, while Republicans are more concerned with the nation's debt, limiting taxes and keeping government small. There can still be exceptions and differences between candidates within the same parties, but most try to stick to these roles in the primary. 

7. Aside from it being primary season, this is an important time for the Republican Party. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan became the Speaker of the House Oct. 29, after John Boehner resigned, citing pressure from factions in Congress.

As the nation watches Ryan try to unite his party, the Republican Party will have to get behind one candidate if they hope to win the election. Views on social issues could also be a sour point for young Republicans.

8. Who really won? It's hard to say. Cruz performed well and received positive reviews, as did Rubio. Christie seemed relatively strong when he did talk, and the rest of the candidates were just incredibly average. Bush attracted negative attention more so than any other candidate. 

The media could be added to the list of losers, based on candidates' comments. 

And for the non-political takeaway of the evening from my discussion with roommates? Kasich kind of looks like former President George W. Bush.

Check out my recap of the last Democratic debate. 

Comments

More from The Daily






This Week's Digital Issue


Loading Recent Classifieds...