MILWAUKEE — The leading Republican presidential candidates clashed sharply over immigration policy, military spending and other intractable and emotional issues in a debate Tuesday night, bringing into sharp relief the party’s fault line between rigid conservatism and mainstream practicality.
The two-hour debate spotlighted the rift between the outsider candidates and establishment governors over how strictly to enforce immigration laws and whether to provide a pathway to legal status for the country’s more than 11 million undocumented immigrants or deport them.
It also revived a long-simmering dispute over the size and role of the U.S. military, with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky warning of the potential adverse fiscal effects of increased defense spending and Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas advocating a more muscular American military presence in the world.
Overall, however, it was a relatively cerebral affair. In a marked departure from the three previous debates, Tuesday’s questions prodded the candidates to explain their positions on such substantive issues as tax policy, the minimum wage and trade treaties, rather than draw contrasts with each other.
Little attention was paid to the personal attacks that have shaped the race in recent weeks. On the campaign trail, billionaire Donald Trump has harshly assailed rival Ben Carson as the retired neurosurgeon rose in the polls, but Trump refrained from hitting his fellow front-runner on the debate stage.
Similarly, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, whose attack on Rubio backfired at the Oct. 28 debate, did not strike his onetime protégé on Tuesday night. Instead, he focused his rhetoric on President Obama and Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, delivering a few punchy answers in a performance that was not dominant but was more energetic than his earlier lackluster showings.
A lengthy discussion of immigration stood out as a proxy for a debate over how Republicans can win back the White House after eight years in the wilderness: under the banner of pure and principled conservatism, or with a moderated platform designed to broaden the GOP’s appeal to Latinos and other minorities.
Trump forcefully defended the controversial proposal that fueled his candidacy since summer, in which he would deport all undocumented immigrants and construct a wall along the border with Mexico to keep them out.
“We are a country of laws, we need borders, we will have a wall, the wall will be built, the wall will be successful and if you think walls don’t work, all you have to do is ask Israel,” said the reality television star. “The wall will work, properly done. Believe me.”
That drew a quick retort from Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who had been spoiling for a fight and repeatedly interrupted the questioning of other candidates to give his opinions.
“For the 11 million people, come on, folks, we all know we can’t pick them up and ship them across the border,” Kasich said. “It’s a silly argument. It’s not an adult argument.”
Trump then interjected with a taunt at Bush: “You should let Jeb speak.”
And the former Florida governor did just that, arguing that deporting illegal immigrants is in conflict with American values and would tear families and communities apart. Bush warned of the electoral consequences should the GOP nominee campaign with Trump’s position.
“They’re doing high-fives in the Clinton campaign right now when they hear this,” Bush said. “That’s the problem with this. We have to win the presidency, and the way you win the presidency is to have practical plans.”
Soon after, Brian Fallon, a Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign spokesman, tweeted, “We actually are doing high-fives right now.”
Cruz, however, sided with Trump. “If Republicans join Democrats as the party of amnesty, we will lose,” the senator from Texas said.
Cruz said that for many voters, illegal immigration is “a very personal economic issue” and added: “We’re tired of being told it’s ‘anti-immigrant.’ It’s offensive. I am the son of an immigrant who came legally from Cuba to seek the American dream, and we can embrace legal immigration while believing in the rule of law.”
Tuesday’s debate, the fourth so far in the Republican race, was hosted by Fox Business Network and the Wall Street Journal before a live audience at a historic theater in downtown Milwaukee.
There were eight candidates in the main debate — the smallest group to share the big stage so far — as national polling averages winnowed the top tier. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee were relegated for the first time to an earlier undercard debate, where both faced sharp attacks from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal over their records on fiscal policy and other issues.
For the moderators, the event brought added scrutiny in the wake of the Oct. 28 debate in Boulder, which was a chaotic affair.
