Large segments of the Republican Party these days resemble a room full of people running around with their hands in the air, shouting “Somebody do something!” The cause, of course, is the surging candidacy of Donald Trump. The conventional wisdom coalescing on Thursday is that the “something” that needs to be done is for his chief rivals to attack him aggressively – now.
So far, challenging Donald Trump has, in general, been a one-way ticket to political oblivion, as former Florida governor Jeb Bush became the latest to learn just last week. One imagines Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the green room before tonight’s debate on CNN awkwardly mouthing “You first.” “No, you first.” to each other before taking the stage.
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However, there is good reason to believe that tonight’s showdown, which will also feature Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who remain in the race for reasons known only to themselves, is crucial. It’s the last time before Super Tuesday that Trump will appear at a venue where he can be challenged on his tissue-thin understanding of domestic and international policy, his outright appeals to bigotry, and his repeated falsehoods.
After tonight, Trump can sail into the Super Tuesday primaries, during which 11 states will award nearly 600 delegates. Trump leads in almost all of those states, and is on track to take at least a large share of delegates from Texas, the home state of one of his chief rivals and the day’s biggest prize.
On Thursday morning, though, despite having gone after Trump by name in his appearances on the campaign trail this week, various reports suggested that Rubio doesn’t see much upside to attacking the frontrunner tonight. In an appearance in Houston last night, even though he criticized Trump on healthcare policy and his stance toward Israel, he said he wouldn’t be automatically on the offensive against Trump tonight.
“I didn’t run for office to tear up other Republicans,” he said.
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Cruz, however, has been a little more aggressive in recent days, blasting both Rubio and Trump as Washington “dealmakers” and criticizing Trump for his refusal to take a scorched earth position with regard to Planned Parenthood. The debate, which will be held in Houston, should be something like a home game for Cruz, which could make him more comfortable going on the offensive.
For his part, Trump has been lambasting Cruz in the media and at his rallies, repeating his claim that the Texas senator is now “a nervous wreck” about facing him. His attacks on Rubio have been more indirect. With many expecting former GOP nominee Mitt Romney to endorse Rubio, Trump has been going after the former Massachusetts governor on social media as a “loser” and predicting that his endorsement will have little effect.
The wildcard in the debates tonight will be the moderators, who will likely try to stir up conflict between the participants if it doesn’t arise on its own.
Considering that the debate is being co-sponsored by the Spanish-language network Telemundo, the likeliest flashpoint will be immigration, a subject that each of the main candidates has faced criticism on – sometimes from each other – in previous debates.
