The Republican presidential debate on Thursday night indeed turned out to be a debate — unlike the previous episodes that had collapsed into hostile altercations — as the four candidates remaining in the field spoke on substantive policy issues related to trade, immigration, foreign policy and social security.
As other candidates, particularly Senator Marco Rubio, abandoned the practice of confronting Donald Trump, it was yet again advantageous for the front runner, who could get away without explaining specific claims or plans. His answers to most questions were typical, like “I know how to do it… it will be beautiful… it will be wonderful.” However, compared to previous debates, Mr. Trump too spoke more policy. While in the earlier debates, Mr. Trump had benefitted from chaos, on Thursday, he benefited from order. “So far, I cannot believe how civil it’s been up here,” Mr. Trump said at one moment.
Even when he came under attack, it was all so understated and subdued that Mr. Trump could afford some uncharacteristic humility dealing with it, and called upon the party to unite behind his campaign.
Mr. Trump, however, stuck to all his anti-Islam statements — including the latest one in which he agreed to an interviewer’s proposition that “Islam hates us” — while his opponents offered muted and qualified rebuttal. For instance, Mr. Rubio said: “Let me say, I know that a lot of people find appeal in the things Donald says. The problem is Presidents can’t just say anything they want. It has consequences here and around the world.”
Mr. Rubio brought up India, and in particular Tata Consultancy Services, while explaining his policy positions on immigration and climate change. Mr. Rubio said many U.S companies were gaming the H1B visa rules that do not allow replacing American workers with foreigners, by entering into outsourcing contracts with companies such as Tata. H1B visa rules specify that an immigrant under that category cannot be hired to replace an American worker.
He said that to circumvent this, provision, U.S companies were giving away entire divisions or projects to Indian companies, which in turn were bringing in lower-wage workers, displacing American workers. Mr. Rubio said he, as President, would plug the loophole.
Also, while defending his position that the U.S. need not act to combat climate change, Mr. Rubio argued that even if the U.S. did reduce carbon emissions, countries such as India and China are likely to more than make up for it.
Mr. Rubio said he was against any law that sought to control climate change. Ohio Governor John Kasich was the only one among the four who conceded that human actions were causing climate change.
