# Third Republican Debate **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 1, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155 "2015-10-01T16:41:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/101 "2015-10-29T13:51:29Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > If you think a rhetorical question that serves no purpose other than to ridicule the candidate, whomever it may be, is appropriate for a debate, then we’re just not going to agree. Moderators are not supposed to play a game of “gotcha” with the candidates. I wouldn’t even dignify that question by calling it a game of “gotcha”. It was an attempt to goad him into an emotional response. I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea was to drive up ratings-- keep people tuned in to watch the dog fight. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/102 "2015-10-29T14:04:18Z")
Yeah, something like that might be reasonable coming from one of his opponents. Not from a moderator. That’s right up there with “have you stopped beating your wife?”. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/103 "2015-10-29T14:04:28Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wouldn’t even dignify that question by calling it a game of “gotcha”. It was an attempt to goad him into an emotional response. I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea was to drive up ratings-- keep people tuned in to watch the dog fight. I think it’s entirely fair to goad Trump into an emotional response, he’s spent his entire campaign on ginning up emotional responses from people on immigration. I think a better question to Trump after those lead-ins would have been “why should we take you seriously?” But somebody has to ask these bozos the tough question. They don’t get them on the campaign trail, they don’t get them in the town halls. When else do they have to get called out on their preposterous claims? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/104 "2015-10-29T14:18:38Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think it’s entirely fair to goad Trump into an emotional response, he’s spent his entire campaign on ginning up emotional responses from people on immigration. > > I think a better question to Trump after those lead-ins would have been “why should we take you seriously?” But somebody has to ask these bozos the tough question. They don’t get them on the campaign trail, they don’t get them in the town halls. When else do they have to get called out on their preposterous claims? Well the best questions would be to ask him for specifics on how he would go about implementing some of his ludicrous plans, and having reports on the ready on how some of his ideas would destroy the country, but that still wouldn’t do any good. He’d just yell about how smart he is and how his ideas will work and the experts who say they won’t are just jealous losers. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/105 "2015-10-29T14:21:12Z")
It’s gonna be terrific, lemme tell ya, _terrific_! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/106 "2015-10-29T14:24:48Z")
I have to say, based on the questions posted in this thread alone, the moderator comes across as petty, smug and lacking in any credibility. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/107 "2015-10-29T14:27:12Z")
Did Carly really claim that 92% of the job losses after 2008 (or maybe it was under Obama) were women’s jobs? Or did I mishear her on that (I was primarily watching the ball game)? That can’t be right, can it? Did she just mis-speak? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/108 "2015-10-29T14:29:50Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think it’s entirely fair to goad Trump into an emotional response, he’s spent his entire campaign on ginning up emotional responses from people on immigration. Not from the moderator of a debate. > [@](#): > > I think a better question to Trump after those lead-ins would have been “why should we take you seriously?” But somebody has to ask these bozos the tough question. They don’t get them on the campaign trail, they don’t get them in the town halls. When else do they have to get called out on their preposterous claims? Call them out on the facts, not on a cheap, personal shot. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/109 "2015-10-29T14:31:49Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It’s gonna be terrific, lemme tell ya, _terrific_! There’s going to be so much deporting that the Mexicans are going to start loving it and deporting themselves. They’ll probably pay for the charter buses back to Mexico!! ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/110 "2015-10-29T14:43:32Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Has anyone noticed how much effort Trump puts into learning every detail of the other candidates’ records so that he can tear them apart? Imagine if he put that much effort into learning policy. America is a post-policy society. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/111 "2015-10-29T14:48:15Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > What? _Substance?_ In a _Republican_ debate?! Well, technically, bullshit is a “substance”. > [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I liked how Kasich started out by attacking Trump’s and Carson’s crazy ideas. I can’t be the only one who saw that and thought that finally, someone called out these two for the crazy ideas the have been promoting. It seemed obvious that Kasich is going for the sane Republican vote. But he is languishing in the low single digits. As a Democrat I don’t really understand why he is doing so poorly. Yes, I disagree with him on some of the issues, but he seemed to be the only one in the room that brought up the fact that the base is being rallied to support crazy ideas. Why isn’t this guy doing better? Because Trump and Carson, not Kasich, are reflections of the Republican voter base in this the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Fifteen. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/112 "2015-10-29T14:50:45Z")
[Charles Pierce](http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a39262/who-won-cnbc-debate/): “This isn’t a political party any more. It’s a wildlife special about life and death on the Serengeti.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/113 "2015-10-29T15:11:23Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think it’s entirely fair to goad Trump into an emotional response, he’s spent his entire campaign on ginning up emotional responses from people on immigration. > > I think a better question to Trump after those lead-ins would have been “why should we take you seriously?” But somebody has to ask these bozos the tough question. They don’t get them on the campaign trail, they don’t get them in the town halls. When else do they have to get called out on their preposterous claims? > [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Well the best questions would be to ask him for specifics on how he would go about implementing some of his ludicrous plans, and having reports on the ready on how some of his ideas would destroy the country, but that still wouldn’t do any good. He’d just yell about how smart he is and how his ideas will work and the experts who say they won’t are just jealous losers. You mean it would goad him into making an emotional response? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/114 "2015-10-29T15:32:44Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wouldn’t even dignify that question by calling it a game of “gotcha”. It was an attempt to goad him into an emotional response. I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea was to drive up ratings-- keep people tuned in to watch the dog fight. You know what I think? For years now, the game in Washington has been to pretend a false equivalence between the two parties. This involves refusing to say that GOP ideas are fucking insane, when the insanity is right in front of you, or to pretend that somehow, Bernie Sanders’ advocacy of single-payer is equivalently crazy. John Harwood simply refused to ignore the fact that insanity is insanity, when it was staring him in the face. He said what any reasonable person should have said at the end of that sequence. There comes a time when things have moved past the point where you can legitimately say, “because of the particular role I’m playing in this proceeding, I can’t admit that a shit sandwich really is a shit sandwich.” And this was it. He was a freakin’ _human being_ up there. Good on him for not losing sight of that. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/115 "2015-10-29T15:51:38Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > …Up until the question, Trump agreed with every one of the lead-ins. The lead-ins that Trump readily agreed to are patently absurd, which makes the question perfectly valid. (post shortened) Harwood came off as an arrogant asshole who doesn’t understand (or maybe didn’t care) what the role of a debate moderator is. The candidates were there to debate each other. The audience, and most of the viewers, wanted to hear the candidates debate the issues. NO ONE wanted to hear what Larry, Moe, and Curly from CNBC had to say concerning ANY issue. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/116 "2015-10-29T15:56:53Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > (post shortened) > > Harwood came off as an arrogant asshole who doesn’t understand (or maybe didn’t care) what the role of a debate moderator is. The candidates were there to debate each other. The audience, and most of the viewers, wanted to hear the candidates debate the issues. NO ONE wanted to hear what Larry, Moe, and Curly from CNBC had to say concerning ANY issue. The ostensible purpose for the debate is to help voters make up their minds about who to vote for. Hearing Trump explain why his candidacy should be taken seriously, despite all the evidence so far, or hearing Rubio, Cruz, or Carson try to answer for the serious gaps in their tax plans are completely consistent with the mission of the debate. The fact that the Republican candidates don’t like having their fantasies questioned is on them, not on the debate moderators. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/117 "2015-10-29T16:00:51Z")
The ass clowns from CNBC stunk up the joint. They lost control of the debate on several occasions. They thought they were there to debate the candidates. They repeatedly showed their personal dislike of the candidates. And the audience repeatedly rewarded the moderator actions by BOOOOOOOing the moderators. What a hoot. Any competent high school debate team could have presented a better show than CNBC managed to do. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/118 "2015-10-29T16:02:45Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > The ostensible purpose for the debate is to help voters make up their minds about who to vote for. Hearing Trump explain why his candidacy should be taken seriously, despite all the evidence so far, or hearing Rubio, Cruz, or Carson try to answer for the serious gaps in their tax plans are completely consistent with the mission of the debate. The fact that the Republican candidates don’t like having their fantasies questioned is on them, not on the debate moderators. These moderators injected themselves into the debate. These moderators failed as moderators. They excelled as DNC shills. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/119 "2015-10-29T16:04:37Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Did Carly really claim that 92% of the job losses after 2008 (or maybe it was under Obama) were women’s jobs? Or did I mishear her on that (I was primarily watching the ball game)? > > That can’t be right, can it? Did she just mis-speak? As usual, it’s[cherry-picked bullshit](http://www.vox.com/2015/10/28/9633508/carly-fiorina-women-jobs-92-percent). Apparently, in a recession, men lose their jobs first (in this case, before Obama was even inaugurated) because they tend to work the heavy construction and industrial jobs. Then the women lose their jobs because, hey, recession. Although looking at the chart in the Vox article, I can’t actually figure out what time period they cherry picked the numbers from. As the article noted, Carly forgot to mention that the jobs also came back under Obama’s administration. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155/120 "2015-10-29T16:11:37Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > People keep on criticizing Carson’s style, but Republican voters seem to love it. Shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken. What he needs to do is calmly, quietly, say intelligent things on specific issues. He didn’t become a surgeon by speaking in generalities or saying ridiculous things, he won’t be President that way. Being an expert at one thing doesn’t mean being even knowledgeable about much else. In fact, I’d go so far as to say his focus is narrow to the exclusion of most other areas. He’s good at cutting people’s brains, not budgets, and it really showed in his fumbling on the money question. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-republican-debate/733155.md?page=7)