That’s it for tonight’s liveblog - check out our summary below, then check in tomorrow, the next day and every day for up-to-the-minute updates on Campaign 2016.
That’s it for tonight’s liveblog - check out our summary below and then check in tomorrow, the next day and every day for up-to-the-minute updates on Campaign 2016.
The Fox News special with Republican candidates is over. Marco Rubio got the very last slot, which doesn’t bode well, writes Christopher Barron.
Marco Rubio gets the Fox News graveyard shift in tonight’s lineup - apropos considering the death spiral that his campaign appears to be in.
For a guy who desperately needs to change the narrative, Megyn Kelly’s opening questioning had to be a gut punch - are you preparing to drop out? Rubio strongly disputed the reports that he is considering dropping out and, in spite of polls that show him far behind, Rubio said he is confident he will win in Florida.
Rubio pivoted dramatically in the way he attacked Trump tonight. Gone were the small hands and pants-wetting jokes. Rubio admitted he regretted those personal attacks. Instead, Rubio said he understood the anger that is driving Trump voters but that Trump the candidate simply lacks any policy prescriptions.
When it comes to policy, particularly foreign policy, Rubio is in his element. Rubio even ably and deftly answered questions about his previous support for comprehensive immigration reform - something that has dogged his campaign from the very beginning.
Rubio had a solid performance tonight, but solid isn’t what he needs right now. If he is going to get his campaign back on track, he needs something much more - and frankly he is running out of time.
Back to the Republicans, now. Chris Barron watched Donald Trump’s rally and found he is working hard to appear presidential – and enjoying himself along the way.
With the Kasich and Cruz opening acts done with their sets, Donald Trump - the bombastic frontrunner - took the main stage at a Fayetteville, North Carolina rally hosted by Sean Hannity.
The theatrics of the Trump event were a stark contrast to the Cruz event in the hour before. Trump, whatever else you may think of him, is a master showman and the Hollywood production value of his rally made the Cruz hour look like public access television.
Trump came across as the confident front-runner and, frankly, he seems like is having fun running for president (something that few politicians ever seem to really enjoy).
As for policy, Trump didn’t surprise, which means he offered almost no specifics. He will build a wall - Mexico will pay for it. He will balance the budget, without cutting entitlements or cutting military spending. He will bring jobs back from China and Mexico and Japan without telling us how this will happen.
What I found most surprising at the Trump performance tonight was how restrained he was - at least by Trump standards. Instead of playing the part of provocateur, Trump was playing the role of president. He basically acknowledged he was playing a role, telling Hannity and the crowd that he could “be the most presidential person ever.”
In the past, Trump has used his rally to beat up on his primary opponents. Tonight, however, Trump continued his pivot from the primary to the general election. Instead of hitting Rubio or Cruz, he made the case that he was the candidate who could and would beat Hillary - going as far as to take credit for Bernie Sander’s rise in the Democratic polls.
If Trump is feeling the heat from the supposed Cruz surge, he certainly isn’t acting like it.
The Democratic presidential debate, as it happened
In a ground-breaking debate that heavily featured questions asked by native Spanish speakers and covered issues relating to immigration, college cost and America’s relationship with Central America, there were a few key moments that stuck out:
- Hillary Clinton, asked about whether she would drop out if she were indicted for the existence of potentially classified information on her private email server, dismissed the possibility on its face. “That is not gonna happen - I am not even answering that question.”
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Bernie Sanders, asked about Donald Trump’s character, said that the obsession with Trump in the Republican party will pass.“The American people are never going to elect a president who insults Mexicans, who insults Muslims, who insults women, who insults African Americans - and let’s not forget, that several years ago, Donald Trump was involved in the so-called birther movement, trying to delegitimize the president of the United States.”
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Jorge Ramos pushed hard on Clinton to say that she would not deport children. “If you’re asking about everyone who’s already here, undocumented immigrants, 11-12 million who are already here... I do not have the same policy as the current administration does,” Clinton says. “I will not deport children - I will not deport children, I do not want to deport family members either, Jorge.”
- A question from the audience for both candidates from a woman whose children and husband are on the other side of the borderasked what they would do to stop deportations and to unite families torn apart by deportations. “The idea that a mother is living here and her children are on the other side of the border is wrong,” Sanders said. “Please know how brave I think you are coming here, with your children, to tell your story. This is an incredible act of courage that I think not many people understand,” said Clinton.
Updated
After playing a 1985 tape of Bernie Sanders praising Fidel Castro, host Maria Elena Salinas asks Sanders how is his form of socialism is different from that of Cuba, Venezuela and Honduras.
Sanders launches it into an attack on the Monroe Doctrine, saying that he opposed the Reagan administration’s effort to overthrow the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.
“I think we have got to end the embargo,” Sanders says. “I believe that we should move toward full and normalized political relations with Cuba. I think at the end of the day it will be a good thing for the Cuban people.” Opening up diplomatic relations with Cuba “will result in significant improvements for the lives of Cubans,” Sanders says.
Updated
Bernie Sanders, on revolution:
I’m the candidate who says no president, not Bernie Sanders, can do it all. You know what we need? We need a political revolution in this country.
“We’re going to refinance everyone’s existing student debt - 40 million Americans have student debt,” Clinton says to a young women with student-loan debt who wants to go to graduate school.
“The interest rates literally go from 8 to 14% - it’s outrageous,” Clinton says. “You can refinance your house to get a lower interest rate, you can refinance your car, corporations can refinance their debt, and under my plan... you can refinance your student-loan debt.”
“After a certain number of years, you no longer have to pay anything. The government has to quit making money off of lending money to young people to get their education,” Clinton says.
Updated
Bernie Sanders does a decent Donald Trump impression:
Let me answer that question, because it’s a huge one. Well, not a YUUUUGE one...
https://twitter.com/robertsdan/status/707765911244173312
We turn back to the Republican town hall for a moment. Christopher Barron watched Ted Cruz’s performance in a mega-church. It was full of red meat for true believers, but don’t expect any new voters to “see the light”.
Act 2 in tonight’s Fox News Republican presidential primetime dog and pony show was Texas Senator Ted Cruz hosted by Megyn Kelly. Fittingly, the Cruz portion of the night took place in a mega-church in North Carolina.
What Ted Cruz wants and needs is to unite the diverse anti-Trump vote. He needs to peel off moderate voters backing Kasich and conservatives and establishment types that are backing Rubio - and that’s exactly the pitch Cruz made early in the hour.
For me, a television viewer at home, Cruz’s North Carolina big tent revival was at best odd. His delivery and cadence, which often seem like a bizarre combination of a used car salesman and a televangelist, was particularly jarring. While Kasich held his town hall in front of largely undecided voters, Cruz held his event in front of Cruz true believers. The crowd, which cheered every word he said, reminded me more of a taping of Showtime at the Apollo than of a serious political event.
On policy, Cruz offered up lots of conservative red meat: investigating Planned Parenthood, busting up the Washington cartel, ending persecution of religious liberty on day 1, the end of common core, repealing Obamacare and abolishing the IRS.
Interestingly enough, one of the only times the Cruz crowd didn’t cheer was when the candidate promised to raise the age of retirement for social security.
While saying he understood the anger of Trump voters, Cruz wasn’t shy about hammering Trump. He hit Trump for supporting Democrats in the past and, in particular, Cruz tried to undermine Trump on one of his strongest issues - immigration.
I don’t think Cruz’s performance tonight will hurt him with his base - but I question whether this performance will bring in new supporters.
Jorge Ramos, nearly drowned out by boos, asks Hillary Clinton about Benghazi, asking if she lied to family members of the four Americans who were killed in a terrorist attack on the US consulate in Libya.
“I feel a great deal of sympathy for the families of the four brave Americans that we lost in Benghazi, and I certainly can’t even imagine the grief she has from losing her son. But she’s wrong. She’s absolutely wrong,” Clinton says.
“We were scrambling to get information that was changing literally by the hour, and when we had information we made it public, but then sometimes we had to go back and say we had new information that contradicts it.”
“I testified for eleven hours, anybody that watched that and listened to it know that I have answered that question.”
Updated
Hillary Clinton v Hillary Clinton:
I am not a natural politician, as you may have noticed, like my husband or President Obama. So I have a view that I just have to do the best I can, get the results I can, make a difference in people’s lives.
Updated
The candidates' competing spin operations are off to a blistering pace tonight pic.twitter.com/XxYtvs7OTx
— Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) March 10, 2016
Clinton: Woman asking question about divided family "is an incredible act of courage"
A question from the audience for both candidates from a woman whose children and husband are on the other side of the border: What will you do to stop deportations - and to unite families torn apart by deportations?
“The idea that a mother is living here and her children are on the other side of the border is wrong,” Bernie Sanders says. “That is beyond comprehension and policies that should not be allowed to exist.”
Speaking to the woman who asked the question, Sanders says “I will do everything that I can to unite your family - your children deserve to be with their mother.”
Clinton speaks directly to the woman. “Please know how brave I think you are coming here, with your children, to tell your story. This is an incredible act of courage that I think not many people understand.”
“I have heard similar stories like yours, where your husband is deported, your children’s father is gone, you are doing your very best to support your children, but it is time to bring families together. I don’t think there’s any doubt that we must do more to let stories like yours be heard more widely, so that more Americans can know the human cost of these policies are.”
Updated
Meanwhile, across town, the Guardian’s Sabrina Siddiqui is catching up with Marco Rubio:
Marco Rubio tonight shot down an emerging dream among conservatives looking to deprive Donald Trump of the nomination: A union between the Florida senator and rival Ted Cruz.
In the wake of a series of dismal performances by Rubio in recent primary contests, a growing number of influential conservative commentators have called on the senator to drop out of the race and endorse Cruz. In exchange, the thinking goes, Rubio could be the Texas senator’s vice presidential pick and this unity ticket would be the only way to stop Trump.
But during a town hall with MSNBC, Rubio dismissed the proposal as “House of Cards stuff” - a reference to the popular political show around the inner workings of Washington.
“It looks good on TV. It doesn’t ever work that way,” Rubio said. “[The] bottom line is, this process is going to play itself out.”
Rubio also said at another point in the forum that he would “absolutely” turn down an offer to be Trump’s vice president.
Bernie Sanders, on immigration:
Madam Secretary, I will match my record against yours any day of the week.
Jorge Ramos grills Hillary Clinton on whether she would deport children, a point that she pushed back on in a previous town-hall interview with him.
“Can you promise tonight that you won’t deport children, and that you won’t deport immigrants without a criminal record?”
“If you’re asking about everyone who’s already here, undocumented immigrants, 11-12 million who are already here... I do not have the same policy as the current administration does,” Clinton says. “I will not deport children - I will not deport children, I do not want to deport family members either, Jorge.”
Ramos, perhaps belaboring the point, pushes Clinton to give a simple yes-or-no answer to the question of whether she would have children deported.
“I will not.”
The Guardian’s Dan Roberts, live from the debate venue, points out that the minutiae-picking aspect of the recent Democratic debates might be a function of the experience of the candidates:
When you have 2 candidates with nearly a century of experience between them, there's an awful lot of history to pick over for inconsistency.
— Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) March 10, 2016
Mashable is attempting to turn Bernie Sanders’ suit into the new #TheDress.
Serious question: Is @BernieSanders' suit black or brown? #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/6Amfn7O5OO
— Mashable (@mashable) March 10, 2016
What do you think?
Bernie Sanders, asked the same question about Donald Trump’s character, says that the obsession with Trump in the Republican party will pass.
“The American people are never going to elect a president who insults Mexicans, who insults Muslims, who insults women, who insults African Americans - and let’s not forget, that several years ago, Donald Trump was involved in the so-called birther movement, trying to delegitimize the president of the United States.”
“Nobody has ever asked me for my birth certificate - maybe it has something to do with the color of my skin,” Sanders says, to wide applause.
Updated
An aggressive question from Maria Elena Salinas: “Is Donald Trump a racist?”
Hillary Clinton’s kicker: “You’re not gonna make America great by getting rid of everything that made it great.”
Updated
Hillary Clinton on being indicted: “That is not gonna happen"
“I’m gonna give the same answer I’ve been giving for many months: It was not the best choice,” Hillary Clinton says, in response to an aggressive series of questions from Univision anchor Jorge Ramos about her use of a private email server while she served as secretary of state.
“I did not send or receive any emails marked classified at the time. What you’re talking about is retroactive classification,” Clinton says. “They just said the same thing to former secretary Colin Powell.”
“What we’ve got here is a case of overclassification - I’m not concerned about it.”
Ramos asks if Clinton will drop out if she is indicted, which Clinton dismisses.
“That is not gonna happen - I am not even answering that question.”
Updated
The first question for Hillary Clinton: How did you fail so dramatically in Michigan?
“I’m continuing to work hard for every single vote across our country,” Clinton says. “This is a marathon, and it’s a marathon that can only be carried out by the kind of inclusive campaign that I’m running.”
“What went wrong in Michigan?” Maria Elena Salinas asks again.
“It was a very close race - we’ve had some of those. I’ve won some, I’ve lost some,” Clinton says.
Updated
The young man singing the national anthem tonight is Sebastien De La Cruz, a mariachi singer who had a successful turn on America’s Got Talent, then endured a series of racist comments after performing the national anthem at an NBA finals game.
Democratic presidential debate in Miami begins
After an all-Spanish introductory reel that highlights the respective Democratic candidates’ positions on immigration, the cost of higher education and the social safety net, Univision anchors Maria Elena Salinas and Jorge Ramos and the Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty welcome former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders to the stage.
Fun fact:
Jeb Bush announced his candidacy at Miami Dade Community College, as the Guardian’s Dan Roberts points out.
Inside Clinton v Sanders debate arena. Last time I was here, Jeb Bush announced his candidacy. Hope it's not cursed. pic.twitter.com/NJGNCcWoKy
— Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) March 10, 2016
Updated
Marco Rubio today expressed regret over his decision to make personal attacks against rival Donald Trump, saying if given a chance he wouldn’t do it again.
The Florida senator drew criticism in recent weeks for a series of lowbrow taunts, including over the size of Trump’s hands, his tan and even the Republican frontrunner’s face. During a town hall hosted by MSNBC, Rubio acknowledged he had gone too far.
“That’s not something I’m entirely proud of. My kids were embarrassed by it,” he said. “If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t.”
Rubio offered a similar response when asked about the episode in a separate forum with Megyn Kelly of Fox News.
“I’m not telling you he didn’t deserve it, but that’s now who I am,” Rubio said.
The mockery was indeed uncharacteristic of the senator, who for much of his presidential campaign sought to stay above the fray. But following his shift in tone toward Trump, Rubio told reporters he felt it was necessary to punch back at someone who spent most of his time bullying others.
Rubio reiterated that point on Wednesday, telling MSNBC Trump was “basically offended everyone for a year ... a disabled journalist, a female journalist, every minority group imaginable, on a daily basis.”
“I don’t want to be that,” Rubio said. “If that’s what it takes to become President of the United States, then I don’t want to be president.”
He drew a distinction, however, in his criticism of Trump’s business record -- including the mogul’s now-defunct eponymous university.
“I think that is legitimate, and the people need to know that what they are electing is not who he says he is,” Rubio said.
The town hall, held in Miami, comes less than a week before Florida’s March 15 primary - a critical contest for Rubio that will likely determine the fate of his presidential ambitions. The senator is currently trailing Trump in the state and is facing calls to drop out of the race after increasingly disappointing results in primaries and caucuses held in the past two weeks. Rubio’s personal attacks against Trump has been regarded as a key turning point that may have contributed to, if not led to, his collapse.
Rubio said his struggles in Florida have to do with the state’s reliance on national media, which has been dominated by Trump.
“The national media has given Donald Trump ten times as much coverage as every other Republican candidate combined,” he said.
Fight Night in Miami: A preview of tonight's Democratic debate
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders are meeting tonight for their fourth one-on-one debate, and their second in less than a week. Coming on the heels of an embarrassing defeat in Michigan for Clinton (and a correlative win for Sanders) and less than a week before major primaries in Ohio and Florida, tonight’s debate will feature a resurgent Sanders and a defensive Clinton - a dynamic we haven’t seen on the debate stage since after Clinton’s massive win in South Carolina.
Before we get to the knock-down-drag-out, here’s a quick run-through of the whos, whats, wheres, whens and whys of tonight’s debate:
- Who’s going to be there? Aside from Clinton and Sanders, the event will be hosted by anchors Maria Elena Salinas and Jorge Ramos, of Univision, and Karen Tumulty, of the Washington Post. The audience will largely be composed of Florida voters, with a sizable contingent of students from Miami Dade Community College.
- What’s the topic? Most of the Democratic primary debate moderators have taken an ecumenical approach to questioning the candidates, picking and choosing from current events, foreign policy, economic issues, social services and dumb questions from YouTube celebrities. With Univision as the debate’s co-sponsor, expect a fair number of questions around issues relating to Latinos, including immigration and social programs. With the college student contingent present in the audience, the cost of higher education and student-loan debt will likely make an appearance as well.
- Where is the debate being held? The Miami debate will be held at Miami Dade Community College, “the nation’s largest campus-based institution of higher learning and the most diverse.”
- When is the debate? The debate will begin at 9 p.m. EST, although since it’s being broadcast on CNN, it could drag the intro out for 47 minutes until a candidate actually takes the stage. (Sorry for calling you out, Anderson Cooper, but some of us have kids to babysit.)
- How can I watch it? The debate will be simulcast from Univision, CNN and the Washington Post’s website. Fusion will also hold a livestream of the debate.
