Viewer's Guide: GOP Debate In Detroit About Trump Vs. Everyone Else
By Laurie Kellman, Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) - And then there were four.
Ben Carson's departure from the GOP presidential race means the quartet of remaining Republicans on the debate stage Thursday night get more time for attacks as Donald Trump treads a path to the GOP nomination and his three rivals try to trip him up. Cheered on by many Republican leaders, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich are racing the primary clock to March 15, likely their last chance to stop Trump in a series of winner-take-all contests.
WWJ will be broadcasting live from outside Detroit's Fox Theater, where the debate is taking place. Russ McNamara will be hosting a live watch party down the street at Cheli's Chili Bar starting at 5 p.m. Stay with us for coverage throughout the night.
Some things to watch Thursday night as the candidates meet at 9 p.m. EST for the Fox News Channel debate in Detroit:
He Who Was Not Named
Love him or loathe him, Trump has taught the poohbahs of the Republican Party what a power grab really is — and he's done it by winning over large swaths of the GOP's own core supporters far from Washington. His wobbling over whether to disavow the support of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke finally gave the Republican leaders of Congress a way to go after the billionaire publicly — without uttering Trump's name. Trump responded by saying House Speaker Paul Ryan would have to get along with a President Trump or pay some sort of "big price." On the eve of the debate, Ryan's office confirmed that Trump's campaign had contacted the speaker's staff in a first sign of outreach. Notably, Trump has started talking about unifying the GOP. Look for Trump to be asked about the existential rift in the party and how he expects to govern.
Rubio, Rude?
The Florida senator who once insisted on staying above the scuffling has leapt right into it, emulating Trump's schoolyard-taunting style.
At campaign events in the past week, Rubio made sometimes crude jokes about everything from Trump's tan to the size of his hands — he even suggested that the billionaire wet his pants at the last debate. Look for whether a newly confident Rubio, emboldened by his first primary win in Minnesota Tuesday, keeps it up or follows Trump toward a more statesmanlike approach.
Cruz's Stand
Thanks to Rubio's win Tuesday, Cruz can no longer say he's the only Republican who has shown he can beat Trump. But he won three states on Super Tuesday — Alaska, Oklahoma and his home state of Texas. And the delegate math shows that Cruz is emerging as the candidate who might stop Trump. Look for some confidence from Cruz, because on Super Tuesday alone he came close to Trump. For the night, Trump won at least 237 delegates and Cruz won at least 209. Rubio was a distant third with at least 94.
Even Sen. Lindsey Graham, who a week earlier joked at a dinner about killing Cruz, acknowledged on CBS that the Texas senator might be the party's best hope to beat Trump.
Kasich, Still
The debate setting is likely most helpful to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who is looking for a strong showing in Michigan in the state's March 8 contest, to survive.
Fox And Trump, Frenemies
Trump has uttered barely a peep about the fact that Fox News Channel is hosting the debate, and that his sometime-nemesis Megyn Kelly, is one of the moderators.
This is a marked change from the upheaval that led to Trump boycotting Fox's debate just before the leadoff Iowa caucuses. Trump had demanded that Kelly be removed; Fox refused and Trump headed a few miles away to host his own event.
He later said that could have been one of the reasons he lost Iowa to Cruz.
Trump has not tweeted about Kelly in weeks. In an interview with the Associated Press this week, Kelly said she thinks Trump has more confidence now.
"He knows he can handle me. He can handle any interviewer," she said.
Remember Ben Carson?
Kelly said he wouldn't have gotten much attention even if he had stuck around for the debate. Fox will concentrate its questions on Trump, Cruz and Marco Rubio — making for potentially awkward moments for Kasich.
Michigan's primary election is Tuesday, March 8.
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