Bush, Carson seek to steady campaigns

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE

Republicans Jeb Bush and Ben Carson sought to steady their presidential campaigns in Tuesday night’s GOP debate, with Bush taking advantage of a policy-focused contest to detail positions on the economy and immigration while Carson swatted away mounting questions about the veracity of his celebrated biography.

“I have no problem with being vetted,” said Carson, a quiet-spoken retired neurosurgeon. “What I do have a problem with is being lied about.”

The debate, the last for the GOP until mid-December, left the crowded GOP field jumbled with less than three months until primary voting gets underway. After a furor over moderators’ aggressive tone in the last debate, Tuesday’s hosts from Fox Business News allowed the eight candidates to deliver lengthy, uninterrupted answers and avoided attempts to get them to engage with one another.

Bush entered the debate in a precarious position, desperate to ease the anxiety of donors and other supporters. While it’s unclear if his competent performance Tuesday night will be enough to reset his campaign, he highlighted his fluency on domestic policy issues and described himself as best prepared to take on Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton in a general election.

In one of the night’s notable exchanges, Bush stood by his plan for allowing some people living in the U.S. illegally to have a path to legal status, an unpopular position with many Republicans. He criticized billionaire Donald Trump’s call for mass deportations as an impractical plan that would hand Democrats a talking point as they seek to appeal to Hispanic voters.

“They’re doing high fives in the Clinton campaign when they’re hearing this,” said Bush, the former Florida governor.

Bush was backed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who at times sought to be the voice of experience and moderation. On Trump’s immigration plan, he said, “We all know you can’t pick them up and ship them across, back across the border. It’s a silly argument.”

Bush avoided tangling with fellow Floridian Marco Rubio, a shift in strategy after his poor performance in the last debate. Rubio had another strong performance, sticking to his strategy of weaving his own compelling personal story into his policy discussions and taking an aggressive stance on foreign policy.

Rubio got a pass from moderators on immigration, an issue that is potentially problematic for him given his role in writing legislation that would have provided a path to legalization. Rubio did face criticism from some rivals, most notably Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, about whether he’s a true conservative given his calls for a child tax care credit and increased military spending.

“We can’t even have an economy if we’re not safe,” said Rubio, a first-term senator enjoying recent momentum for his White House bid.