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2016 Republican Primary Tag

October's CNBC-hosted Republican debate threw into full relief the bias inherent in the mainstream media's handling of electoral politics. In the wake of the broadcast, both the MSM and RNC leadership fielded comments and accusations from candidates (and conservative bloggers...) rendered beyond frustrated at the CNBC moderators' questions, tone, and approach to a slate of candidates they treated like a lineup of hostile witnesses. Donald Trump has spent a great deal of time since that debate lashing out at the media over its treatment of conservatives, and his latest move is one that his supporters hope will set him further apart from the pack. Republican campaign reps gathered together this weekend in a meeting organized by GOP attorney Ben Ginsberg to craft a list of demands the entire slate of GOP candidates could present to network executives before the next debate. Representatives from Trump's campaign attended this meeting---then promptly announced their intention to independently negotiate with the networks apart from Ginsberg's efforts.

Tone deaf? How does it work? This. This is how it works. Monday, the RNC sent a round of fundraising emails addressed from failed Presidential Candidate, Senator McCain. Screen Shot 2015-11-02 at 1.50.04 PM

In the 48 hours immediately following the GOP debate, Ted Cruz's presidential campaign raised over a million dollars.  His performance during the debate included some significant comments directed at the moderators that resulted in the highest score pollster Frank Luntz has seen in his career conducting debate focus groups. The Business Insider reports:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had arguably the most memorable moment from Wednesday night's Republican primary debate on CNBC when he slammed the moderators. But for Frank Luntz, the veteran GOP pollster who ran a focus group during the debate, the results were clear. "I have been doing this since 1996 and tonight is a special moment. I've never tested — in any primary debate — a line that scored as well as this," Luntz said after the debate on Fox News' "The Kelly File."
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As much as I love electoral politics, every once in a while it's good to flip the switch, stop taking things so seriously, and enjoy a heartfelt laugh at the expense of the politicians working their tails off to convince me that I should support their campaigns. Let's not kid ourselves---this business is a circus, and we're in the stands with slurpees and big pretzels, waiting for the animals to eat each other. Fortunately, I'm not the only who likes to take out my mid-cycle high spirits on the candidates. The people at Bad Lip Reading took some highlights from the recent Democratic debate and did their worst with it. Watch:

The GOP has a long history of subjecting its candidates to abuse by debate moderators. From George Stephanopolous to Candy Crowley, debates are a time for network journalists to earn their battle badges by damaging Republicans. And the GOP just sucks it up and takes it. So why would the CNBC moderators have thought the most recent Republican Primary debate should be any different? CNBC did what it thought it was supposed to do -- mock and snicker at Republican candidates. Belittle them. Dismiss their intelligence and portray them as kooks.

While it seems clear that the loser of this week's CNBC debate debacle was CNBC (and in many ways, the mainstream media as a whole), I was and am really curious to see post-debate polling.  Watching the debate, I couldn't help but think that those ill-prepared, condescending, and generally unpleasant moderators were doing the GOP—and conservatives more generally—a gigantic favor.  We've long said that the media is biased against, unfair toward, and disingenuous about Republicans, and we couldn't have written a script ourselves to better prove our point. The first post-debate poll released, an online NBC poll, shows Trump and Carson leading the race with 26% each and Ted Cruz in third with 10%.  Mike Flynn reports:
No other candidates earn double-digit support in the poll, from NBC News/Survey Monkey. Among those Republicans who watched the debate, Trump edges Carson, 25-24, while Cruz’s support jumps to 17 percent. Nearly a quarter of Republicans said Cruz did the best in the debate. He was followed closely by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), with one-in-five Republicans saying he did best. Trump and then Carson round out the top 4 performances in the debate, according to Republican voters.

When it comes to relatability, young voters peg Senator Rubio as the winner. A Fusion-hosted panel of younger voters during the third Republican Presidential debate unanimously agreed Marco Rubio was the most relatable.

Early Friday afternoon, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus sent a nastygram to NBC News, suspending the Republican Party's partnership with the network. After the third Republican presidential debate, which was hosted by CNBC, Priebus said he was "ashamed" of how the network handled the event.

It has long been obvious that Jeb Bush doesn't have what it takes in this presidential election cycle. Part of it is beyond Jeb's control - there is little appetite outside the donor class for another Bush at the head of the ticket. More than that, Jeb's reaction to Donald Trump's comments about 9/11 having taken place on George W. Bush's watch demonstrated how having Jeb as the nominee necessarily will result in a re-litigation of the Bush presidency. Intellectually that it possible, but as a practical political matter putting Bush on trial is a strategy that only Democrats can win. I have compared Jeb's political counter-punches to George Castanza in Seinfeld - always too little, too late, and said in a way that boomerangs. And that's what happened during the CNBC debate, in the most cringe-worthy moment so far:

I think it's safe to say we've reached peak primary with this one. Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accused fellow candidate Ben Carson of changing his position on abortion.

If you watched the CNBC Republican primary debate last night and the political analysis that followed on FOX News or any other center right outlet, you know what a disaster the event was. The moderators were so far left and openly combative that it was like watching a Republican debate moderated by the Democratic Party. CNBC's moderators succeeded in making CNN's Candy Crowley look fair and balanced. Everyone who's familiar with John Harwood and CNBC had some idea it was going to go this way. Everyone except Republican Party chairman, Reince Priebus. Following the debate, Priebus reacted harshly. Ben Kamisar of The Hill:
RNC chief: 'CNBC should be ashamed' Republicans are lashing out at CNBC over Wednesday's night's GOP debate, with the party's campaign chairman saying the network "should be ashamed" of how it was handled.

Trigger warning: hot takes! Give our analyses a look, then take it to the comments...

Aleister:

The CNBC Republican debate was a dumpster fire from beginning to end. John Harwood and the other moderators were openly hostile and argumentative to the candidates when they weren't encouraging the candidates to fight among themselves. What a contrast to the respectful way CNN treated Democrats. Speaking of the Democrats, were they asked any questions that would appeal to conservative viewers? I watched the Dem debate and I can't recall any. Yet Republicans were asked about climate change and pot legalization.

Welcome to the main stage! Tonight's debate will feature...
  • Carly Fiorina
  • Jeb Bush
  • Donald Trump
  • Chris Christie
  • Ben Carson
  • Marco Rubio
  • Ted Cruz
  • Rand Paul
  • Mike Huckabee
  • John Kasich
CNBC, like Fox News, decided to put tonight's debate behind the "cable news subscriber" paywall. If you pay for cable and are away from your TV, you can log in and watch here. If you're not a subscriber, we'll do our best to post a full video of the debate as soon as some enterprising blogger makes it available on YouTube. In the mean time, you can follow all of the commentary and reaction on Twitter, right here:

Tonight, GOP Presidential contenders will duke it out on stage for the third time. How are the candidates preparing for this evening's verbal sparring?

Marco Rubio is checking stats.

Rand Paul is practicing "Yo Momma" jokes.

Earlier this year, I used a great deal of digital ink describing why I believe that Marco Rubio has the best digital campaign of the cycle. So far, his team has done the best job stripping down the trappings of campaign life to offer the country an introduction to who Marco Rubio is as a person. As in, a human being. Embracing our own humanity is important--it's how Barack Obama managed to connect to his voter base, and it's Hillary Clinton's greatest failing as a candidate (and, not ironically, as a human being.) In their latest offering, Team Rubio takes the same tone they used with their "Top Google Searches for Marco Rubio" ad, but expands their reach to voters looking to connect with a candidate on an everyday level. Watch:

Some of the most influential Latino minds in the conservative movement, including Alfonso Aguilar, Director of American Principles Project’s Latino Partnership, representatives from the LIBRE Initiative, Mario H. Lopez, president of the Hispanic Leadership Fund, Rosario Marin, former U.S. treasurer, Massey Villareal, the former chairman of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and many more are meeting on the eve of the CNBC GOP Presidential debate. During the closed-door meeting, leading Conservative Latino activists will discuss the immigration proposals and public statements of each of the presidential candidates and identify any candidates who may not earn the support of the Latino community. Following the meeting, attendees will hold a press conference. Anger over immigration comments made by Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and the seeming endorsement of such comments by Senator Ted Cruz compelled Conservative Latino activists to form a coalition.

Ted Cruz has hit third place (behind Carson and Trump) and double-digits in Iowa.  He's taken over Rubio's third place spot according to Bloomberg.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, at 10 percent, is the only other candidate [besides Carson and Trump] in double digits. He's followed by Florida Senator Marco Rubio at 9 percent. The horse-race numbers for the top four mirror a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday, with the main exception being that the earlier poll had Rubio in third place with 13 percent.
As he continues to campaign in Iowa, Cruz emphasizes the import of the 2016 presidential election.  He tweets: