CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Rubio Won The Debate

Sen. Marco Rubio won Thursday's GOP debate hands down. During the FoxNews/Google debate Rubio once again demonstrated that he is the most articulate presidential candidate. As he has done in all seven GOP debates, Rubio answered  some very tough questions and always responded with answers that sounded heartfelt, sincere and polished but not slick. Rubio, during the heat of a nationally televised debate, manages to offer reassurance, hope and inspiration. And he does that while staying on target -- focusing more on the potential Democrat opponents. And last night he did so with tough moderators who gave no quarter, so much so that Donald Trump chose to cut and run rather than stand and duke it out in seventh Debate.

This video clip released by the Rubio campaign was one of the key moments of the debate and makes the point. It came after a question, by Megyn Kelly to Jeb Bush asking if the attack ads against fellow Republican candidates instead of Hillary by Bush supporting Super PACs do more harm than good:

BAIER: Senator Rubio, first before I ask you a question, any response to Governor Bush?

RUBIO: Well, I believe, and I know that if Iowa helps make me the Republican nominee, I will defeat Hillary Clinton. Hillary doesn't want to run against me, but I cannot wait to run against her. And I cannot wait to earn the opportunity to do it because she cannot be the president of the United States.

She wants to put Barack Obama on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. She said that here in Iowa just two days ago. That would be a disaster for this country.

So I hope and pray and cannot wait until this state and others give me an opportunity to serve this party as its nominee because I will defeat Hillary Clinton.

BAIER: Now let's talk about electability, Senator. TIME magazine once called you "the Republican savior." Rush Limbaugh and others said you likely will be president some day.

But if you look at the recent average of polls in your home state of Florida, you're in third trailing Donald Trump by 24 points. If the people who know you best have you there, why should the rest of the country elect you?

RUBIO: Well, let me be clear about one thing, there's only one savior and it's not me. It's Jesus Christ who came down to earth and died for our sins.

RUBIO: And so -- and I've always made that clear about that cover story.

As far as the polls are concerned, Iowa, on Monday night you're going to go to a caucus site and you'll be the first Americans that vote in this election. You will be the first Americans that get to answer the fundamental question, what comes next for this country after seven disastrous years of Barack Obama?

And let me tell you what the answer better not be. It better not be Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders is a socialist. I think Bernie Sanders is good candidate for president of Sweden.

We don't want to be Sweden. We want to be the United States of America.

And Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton is disqualified from being the commander-in-chief of the United States. In fact, one of her first acts as president may very well be to pardon herself because Hillary Clinton...

Hillary Clinton stored classified information on her private server. And Hillary Clinton lied to the families of those four brave Americans who lost their life in Benghazi. And anyone who lies to the families of Americans who have died in the service of this country can never be commander-in-chief of the United States.

BAIER: Thank you, Senator.

In the heat of the moment Rubio also manages to stay calm, humble and appropriately humorous.

Rubio even handled a gotcha immigration reform question from Megyn -- complete with three video clips:

KELLY: Welcome back everyone. Live, in Des Moines, Iowa. Now, we move onto the topic of immigration. Senator Rubio, we'll start with you. When you ran for Senate in 2010, you made clear that you opposed legalization and citizenship for illegal immigrants. You promised repeatedly that you would oppose it as a U.S. Senator as well. Here are just a few examples. Watch.

[VIDEO CLIPS Shown]

KELLY: Within two years of getting elected you were co-sponsoring legislation to create a path to citizenship, in your words, amnesty. Haven't you already proven that you cannot be trusted on this issue?

RUBIO: No, because if you look at the quote, and it's very specific. And, it says blanket amnesty, I do not support blanket amnesty...

KELLY: ... But, you went on from there...

RUBIO: ... I do not support amnesty...

KELLY: ... You said more than that, Senator...

RUBIO: ... No, I said I do not support blanket amnesty...

KELLY: ... You said earned path to citizenship is basically code for amnesty. You...

RUBIO: ... It was...

KELLY: ... supported earned path to citizenship...

RUBIO: ... It absolutely has been, and at the time in the context of that was in 2009, and 2010, where the last effort for legalization was an effort done in the Senate. It was an effort led by several people that provided almost an instant path with very little obstacles moving forward.

What I've always said is that this issue does need to be solved. They've been talking about this issue for 30 years, and nothing ever happens. And, I'm going to tell you exactly how we're going to deal with it when I am president.

Number one, we're going to keep ISIS out of America. If we don't know who you are, or why you're coming, you will not get into the United States.

Number two, we're going to enforce our immigration laws. I am the son and grandson of immigrants. And I know that securing our borders is not anti-immigrant and we will do it.

We'll hire 20,000 new border agents instead of 20,000 new IRS agents. We will finish the 700 miles of fencing and walls our nation needs. We'll have mandatory E-verify, a mandatory entry/exit tracking system and until all of that is in place and all of that is working and we can prove to the people of this country that illegal immigration is under control, nothing else is going to happen.

We are not going to round up and deport 12 million people, but we're not going to hand out citizenship cards, either. There will be a process. We will see what the American people are willing to support. But it will not be unconstitutional executive orders like the ones Barack Obama has forced on us.

During the debate I thought Kelly was very annoying there. She could have let Rubio answer the question and then engage in the back and forth -- he said, you said exchange. Upon further reelection, the exchange permitted Rubio to display his terrific political skills. This response was a much better than what Rubio said on NBC’s Meet the Press a week ago.

As to the rest of the field, During the debate I thought Cruse had an off night. But after reading the transcript and watching video clips, I think Cruse did well. Jeb Bush may have his best night, was that because Trump was AWOL. Rand Paul had his best debate as well. The other participants? Well at least they showed up, unlike Trump.

Cruz Retunes Iowa Campaign Message

NBC's Vaughn Hillyard reports that Sen. Ted Cruz has retuned his Iowa campaign message choosing to not attack Donald Trump. That's a reversal from the previous two weeks, during which Cruz went after Trump's record hitting 17 different positions held - or formerly held - by Trump.

The Cruz campaign also launched two ads against the Trump last week. The first ad, began airing an ad last weekend targeted Trump as a "fat cat" who supports and uses eminent domain. The Second ad goes after Trump for his New York values. It highlights several sound bites from a Meet the Press interview with Trump in 1999. During that interview then-moderator Tim Russert pressed the Donald on his views about abortion and gay marriage. Trump told Russert his stances on the controversial social views were shaped by his residency in New York. 

According to Hillyard there are growing questions about how successful those attacks have been and whether they've hurt Cruz more than Trump. So Cruz is now campaigning with stump speeches that mimic those he delivered through the fall and early part of winter. Those speeches deliver a message of "hope and optimism" focusing almost solely on Cruz' own principled Conservative record and policy proposals.

After Trump's rebound in the Iowa polls and what was seen by some as a less than stellar debate performance than usual in Thursday's Trumpless debate, the Cruz retuning is a smart move.

Posted from RedState.

Preview of the Marco Rubio 30-minute Iowa ad

Marco Rubio is airing 30-minute television programs in every Iowa television market this weekend -- the final days before the first votes are cast in the 2016 presidential election. Rubio's 30-minute TV specials will show excerpts of the town hall-style meetings Rubio has relied on campaigning in Iowa. The Rubio campaign has provided the following preview:

The Washington Post's Sean Sullivan reports that Rubio's advisers believe that their best asset is their candidate and the most effective way to communicate is to expose his pitch to many voters as possible. Having seen Rubio speak in both a very large and very small groups, I wouldn't argue with that. No candidate is more articulate than Rubio. But Rubio is running an unconventional campaign. He doesn't seem to have a ground game and is depending on caucus goers to turn out for him anyway. 

The Rubio campaign says it plans to field questions on social media and on the phone while the ad is broadcast. It will air in Sioux City on Saturday and Sunday and in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport on Sunday.

According to the Real Clear Politics Average, Rubio is polling in third place in Iowa, behind Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz -- 31.4, 24.8 and 14.4. As Leon points out here, Rubio has some work to do. Will the 30 minute ads do it?

Cross-posted from RedState.

The Cruz Campaign On The Damage To Trump From His Cut and Run Stunt

Today Rick Tyler national spokesperson for the Ted Cruz Campaign, during an appearance on "America's Newsroom," talked about how Donald Trump's cut and run stunt may damage his Iowa Caucasus effort. Tyler said that he thinks Trump has done great damage to his campaign by refusing to participate in the Iowa Debate tonight:

Iowa has wanted a debate for a long time. They deserve to see all the candidates on the stage so they can make a side by side comparison. For some reason Donald Trump doesn't want that side by side comparison. We would like him to come to the debate. He should participate.

Asked about his sense how Iowa is reacting to Trump's absence, Tyler said Iowans want candidates face to face:

Iowans want to meet their candidates face to face. Big rallies are fine, but  actually meeting people, getting a feel for the candidate, that's what Ted Cruz has done for over a year now. Donald Trump flies in, does a big event, he might shake a few hands and then he is off doing something else. Debates are where you can really compare.... if he's not there we can't compare. Our guy will stand up great to Donald Trump and he's not there, people won't see that. I want them to see that. I want them to see the contrast. But, He is making a contrast by not showing up.

When asked about Cruz saying if Trump wins in Iowa he may be unstoppable, he admitted it is possible, "It could be. So that's why we want to win Iowa. We want to stop him right here in Iowa and reverse his momentum." Tyler also talked about the Cruz Campaign's grassroots organization in Iowa. But earlier this week the Cruz campaign announced that it has an impressive grassroots Iowa campaign organization ready for the Caucuses. More than 12,000 volunteers, 1,573 caucus captains across and a county chair for each of Iowa’s 99 counties are working to identify and turn out caucus goers for Cruz. Volunteers, on average, are making up to 20,000 phone calls and knocking on 2,000 doors every day. This week, Cruz is barnstorming the state holding 30 public events in 22 counties leading up to the caucuses. By Monday, Caucus day, Cruz will have completed the "Full Grassley," visiting and holding events in all 99 counties in the state.

You can watch the Interview in the following video:

Cross-posted from RedState.

Trump Bets He Can Run Against Fox

Donald Trump is betting that he's bigger than Fox News. Trump just wasn't able to deal with the prospect that he would again have to  take tough questions from Megyn Kelly in tonight's Republican Presidential debate. The Donald was so upset about this that he decided he could no longer participate in the Fox News debate. Nor could Trump deal with the fact that Sen. Ted Cruz then challenged Trump to a debate between just the two of them. Trump decided to avoid that debate as well. That's right, Trump chose to cut and run rather than suck it up and deal with Kelly, Fox News and Cruz. Instead, the billionaire chose to conjure up a charity event to compete with what Trump is gambling will be reduced media coverage for the debate.

CNN's Eric Bradner finds Trump's gamble risky. He may be mistaken. The Donald has completely dominated media attention since his formal announcement of his presidential candidacy. The Trump media attention saturation has not lessened during the final days before the Iowa Caucuses. If anything Trump's cut and run stunt has further enhanced the attention the media gives him. And the polling, such as the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll finds Trump has regained his lead in Iowa. So it doesn't appear that Trump's taunting and running against Fox has or will hurt Trump.

Trump seems to understand what some Conservatives have noticed. In 2016, the conservative base is finally realizing that Fox News has become part of the Republican Establishment. As Dylan Byers writes, Fox News is more in line with the increasingly despised Republican Establishment than with Conservatives who support insurgent candidates like Trump and Ted Cruz. And Trump is tapping into the right's anger against Fox:

Trump's six-month war with host Megyn Kelly, which turned nuclear when he pledged to skip the Fox News debate that she is co-moderating on Thursday, has exposed a significant shift in the political-media landscape: The growing divide between ultraconservatives and Roger Ailes' Manhattan-based network.

Trump's attacks on the network -- like those he's made on Mexicans, Muslims, Sen. John McCain, and others -- are no random acts of emotion, conservative pundits and campaign strategists told CNN. Instead, they indicate calculated tactical moves designed to stoke support among a conservative base that no longer worships Fox News as it once did.

Steve Deace, the Conservative Iowa radio host who is supporting Cruz agrees:

Most of my audience has a bipolar feeling about Fox News. They view it as the most reliable place to go for news coverage, but they have grown increasingly untrusting of it when it comes to analysis.... Their feeling is that most of the Bush establishment people they put on there -- from Brit Hume to [Charles] Krauthammer to Karl Rove -- have been in the tank all along for anybody other than Trump and Cruz.

Rush Limbaugh, took Trump's side in this kerfuffle decision and lumped Fox News in with the rest of "the media."

Roger Ailes deserves a lot of credit for this. It all goes back to 2011 when Ailes made his infamous "course correction" Howard Kurtz wrote about long before he was part of Fox News:

But as President Obama’s popularity has plummeted and the country has grown increasingly sick of partisan sniping, something unexpected happened. Roger Ailes pulled back a bit on the throttle.

He calls it a “course correction,” quietly adopted at Fox over the last year. Glenn Beck’s inflammatory rhetoric—his ranting about Obama being a racist—“became a bit of a branding issue for us” before the hot-button host left in July, Ailes says. So too did Sarah Palin’s being widely promoted as the GOP’s potential savior—in large measure through her lucrative platform at Fox. Privately, Fox executives say the entire network took a hard right turn after Obama’s election, but, as the Tea Party’s popularity fades, is edging back toward the mainstream.

The change was subtle at first, hardly noticeable to the casual Fox viewer. But before a year had passed, Conservatives were feeling alienated from Fox News. It has only gotten worse.

Trump may win his bet against Fox News. He may once again receive the bulk of tonight''s media's coverage and even eclipse the coverage of the Republican Presidential debate. But Trump's cut and run stunt will hurt him in the Iowa Caucuses. It will cause caucus goers who were leaning toward Trump to have second thoughts. No one but Trump's hardcore supporters appreciate Trump acting like a spoiled brat.

Cross-posted from RedState.

Trump Responds to the Cruz Debate Challenge

The Trump campaign has finally responded to the debate offer, telling ABC News, that if Cruz is the last man standing and it comes down to a two-person race, then Trump will be happy to debate him.

After Donald Trump decided to cut and run from the Iowa debate moderated Megyn Kelly Ted Cruz, challenged Trump to a debate between just the two of them:

This race is a dead heat between Donald and me, we are effectively tied in the state of Iowa. If he is unwilling to stand on the debate stage with the other candidates, I would like to invite Donald right now to engage in a one-on-one debate with me, anytime between now and the Iowa Caucuses.

Cruz suggested potential moderators from conservative talk radio, including Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh. Cruz continued to mock the Donald saying, that If moderators are "too scary'" for Trump then he and Trump could do a 90 minute "Lincoln-Douglas, mano-a-mano" debate where they could both lay out their vision for the country. Cruz also launched a website called DuckingDonald.com that asks supporters to check "yes" to a debate between he and Trump.

The Cruz Campaign has released the following video of Campaign's national communications director talking about trump ducking the debate and the Cruz debate challenge:

Cross-posted from RedState.

House Conservatives Headed To Iowa To Support Cruz

Siobhan Hughes reports that House Conservatives are headed to Iowa to help build support for Sen. Ted Cruz during the closing days before the Iowa Republican Caucuses. Rick Tyler, a spokesman for the Cruz campaign, said the House conservatives could help amplify Cruz’s message that "we have enough wheeler dealers in Washington who are destroying the country — we don’t need the author of 'The Art of the Deal,' who will just give us more of the same."

The group of Congressional Cruz supporters that will knock on doors and give speeches includes:

• Rep. Alex Mooney (R., W. Va.), a freshman Republican who is going to Iowa on Friday and plans to stay through Monday, knocking on doors and encouraging Cruz supporters to turn out at the caucuses.
• Rep. Mo Brooks (R., Ala.), one of Congress’s biggest opponents of illegal immigration, who plans to speak at one of the caucuses in Iowa on behalf of Mr. Cruz–even if that means missing House votes that are scheduled that same evening.
• Rep. Steve King (R., Iowa), an early backer of Mr. Cruz, plans to introduce the other House Republicans to Iowa caucus-goers and help drive home the message that Cruz does have a base of support in Congress.

During his time in Congress, Cruz has worked closely with Conservative House Republicans, earning the nickname "Speaker Cruz." The assistance of the House Conservatives Should help disprove Donald Trump's negative attack that Cruz has no allies in the capital at all. 

Tony Perkins Endorses Ted Cruz

Tony Perkins endorses Sen. Ted Cruz for President:

Ted is a constitutional conservative who will fight for faith, family and freedom. He will defend our right to believe and live according to those beliefs. Our families will be protected and freedom will once again mean something in America. I trust Ted to fight to pull America out of the political and cultural tailspin that President Obama’s policies have put us in. This is no normal election; this election is about the very survival of our Constitution and our republic.

Perkins is president of Family Research Council (FRC), one of the nation’s leading voices on pro-life and pro-family issues, host of the daily, nationally syndicated radio show, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins and the author of No Fear: Real Stories of a Courageous New Generation Standing for Truth.

 

Perkins spoke about his endorsement of Cruz with Megyn Kelly on Fox News' "The Kelly File" Tuesday night:

 

After looking at these candidates, talking to them, and I have many friends in this race. But I believe the one who is best positioned, best prepared, to lead this nation forward pulling it out of the tailspin that this President has put us in, I believe it's Ted Cruz.

 

He's smart, he's bold, and much like you he's not afraid to upset people to do the right thing. He's not worried about making everyone happy, and I think if you're making everybody happy you're not doing the right things.

 

And I've known Ted, I've supported Ted, I worked closely with him in the Senate.

 

Megyn, this is about his standing on Conservative principles, it's about his standing on the Constitution, not his standing in the polls or his standing with his colleagues. That's why I support him. He's a bold leader, he's the kind of leader we need right now in America.

Pressed repeatedly by Kelly about why he chose Cruse over Donald Trump, Perkins said he was not going to say anything negative about Trump.

Pro-life Women Leaders Urge Iowans To Support Anyone But Trump

Pro-life women leaders from Iowa urge Republican caucus-goers and voters to support anyone but Donald Trump. In a letter being  sent out to pro-life Iowans today, they say that based upon his own words, Trump cannot be trusted on abortion: 

On the issue of defending unborn children and protecting women from the violence of abortion, Mr. Trump cannot be trusted and there is, thankfully, an abundance of alternative candidates with proven records of pro-life leadership whom pro-life voters can support.  We have come to this conclusion after having listened patiently to numerous debates and news reports, but most importantly to Donald Trump’s own words.

These women also take Trump to task for his denigration of women:

Moreover, as women, we are disgusted by Mr. Trump’s treatment of individuals, women, in particular.  He has impugned the dignity of women, most notably Megyn Kelly, he mocked and bullied Carly Fiorina, and has through the years made disparaging public comments to and about many women. Further, Mr. Trump has profited from the exploitation of women in his Atlantic City casino hotel which boasted of the first strip club casino in the country.

Remember Trump said he would would not even ban partial birth abortion. He said it in his now infamous interview with Tim Russert on Meet the Press:

Russert: Would President Trump ban partial birth abortion?

Trump: I'm very pro choice. And again it may be a little bit of a New York background because there is some different having attitude in different parts of the country and you know I was raised in New York, grew up and work and everything else in New York City.

Russert: But you would not ban partial-birth abortion?

Trump: No.

Never forget what a horrific procedure partial-birth abortion is. Generally performed in the second or third trimester, during which a fetus is partially removed from the womb, and its skull is punctured or crushed. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, defines partial birth abortion:

Sec. 1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited 1.(b) As used in this section-- (1) the term `partial-birth abortion' means an abortion in which the person performing the abortion-- (A) deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother, for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus; and (B) performs the overt act, other than completion of delivery, that kills the partially delivered living fetus.

Congress provided that this ban would not apply to a situation in which the mother would be put at risk.

The Cruz Campaign keeps hitting Trump's New York values. The Campaign announced a new TV ad, "New York Values," on Tuesday showing Trump’s assertion that New York "views" and "attitudes" are different than views and attitudes in Iowa. Trump explained New York Values in his own words and how they shaped his views on gay marriage and abortion. He then admited that if he were president he would not even ban partial-birth abortions. The new ad will run statewide in Iowa beginning January 26. You can watch it in the accompanying video.

Here's the script of the ad:

Trump: I mean, hey I lived in New York City and Manhattan all my life, so my views are a little bit different than if I lived in Iowa.

Voiceover: They are different, like on Abortion.

Russert: Would President Trump ban partial birth abortion?

Trump: Look, I am pro-choice in every respect.

Voiceover: What does Trump think about Iowa?

Trump: How stupid are the people of Iowa?

Voiceover: Donald Trump, New York values, not ours.

Trump: My views are a little bit different than if I lived in Iowa.

Cruz: I’m Ted Cruz and I approve this message.

Some of this article was cross posted from RedState.

Cruz Winning Iowa Evangelicals

The new Quinnipiac University Iowa poll released Tuesday finds that Cruz has doubled his lead over Trump among the critical Evangelical voters. Cruz now leads Trump among Iowa Evangelicals by 12 points — 39 percent to 27 percent. The Iowa Republican Caucus is a two-man race with Trump at 31 percent and Cruz at 29 percent among likely Republican Caucus participants. Marco Rubio is at 13 percent. No other candidate is above 7 percent.

Cruz leads Trump:

• 50 - 34 percent among self-professed Tea Party members;
• 49 - 29 percent among voters describing themselves as "very conservative."

Trump leads Cruz:

• 29 - 21 percent among self-identified "somewhat conservative" voters;
• 37 - 6 percent among voters claiming to be "moderate" or "liberal."

The new poll is virtually unchanged from the January 11 Quinnipiac poll which found Trump at 31 percent, with 29 percent for Cruz and 15 percent for Rubio.

Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, "Despite Sarah Palin's endorsement of Donald Trump and Gov. Terry Branstad's criticism of Sen. Ted Cruz, and despite - or because of - Sen. Cruz' 'New York values' comments, the Iowa Republican Caucus remains too close to call. Other interesting findings from the new Iowa poll include:

• Two percent are undecided and 39 percent of those who name a candidate say they might change their mind.
• Among Iowa Republican Caucus-goers, 24 percent say they "would definitely not support" Trump, with 24 percent who would not support former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Only 12 percent say 'no way' to Cruz.

The Quinnipiac poll stands in stark contrast to national polls. The big takeaway from the new NBC Survey Monkey poll is that Evangelicals, at least according to Politico, are flocking to Trump. The latest NBC News/Survey Monkey weekly online tracking poll,also released on Tuesday, finds that Donald Trump now leads Sen. Ted Cruz  among white evangelical Republican voters by 17 points — 37 percent to 20 percent. That's nine point drop for Cruz from last week among this demographic. Carson and Rubio are nearly tied in this group — 11 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Otherwise the tracking poll shows that the race remains fairly stable. Trump still leads the Republican field, with 39 percent support among Republican and Republican-leaning voters. Cruz has 17 percent support, dropping four points from last week. Rubio has 10 percent support, while Carson and Bush hold unchanged from last week with 8 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Last  week the poll found Trump at 38 percent among Republican and Republican-leaning voters, Ted Cruz at 21 percent, Marco Rubio at 11 percent and Ben Carson at 8 percent — all essentially unchanged from the previous week.

Another national poll, the new CNN/ORC poll, also finds the race stable with Trump leading by a two-to-one margin. Trump leads the CNN poll with 41 percent. Cruz is at 19 percent and no other candidate hit double-digits. According to CNN, the race remains fairly stable compared with where it was in the most recent CNN/ORC poll in late December. In that poll, Trump led with 39percent, with Cruz at 18 percent and Rubio at 10 percent.