Ballot Boxing: Taking on Trump

Welcome to Ballot Boxing, WORLD’s political roundup of news and views from the presidential campaign trail.

The fight for the Republican presidential nomination continued this week, and the two candidates battling for second place finally did something they’ve largely avoided until last night’s GOP debate: They took on the front-runner.

At the debate hosted by CNN in Houston, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas spent less time going after each other and more time tangling with business mogul Donald Trump.

Trump has won three of the first four Republican nominating contests, with Rubio and Cruz virtually tying for second place in those contests. Last week in South Carolina, the tone between Rubio and Cruz turned ugly, as the candidates accused each other of lying during the campaign leading up to the first primary in the South.

After Rubio barely edged Cruz by a little more than a thousand votes for second place in South Carolina, the tension continued. Earlier this week, Cruz faced controversy when campaign spokesman Rick Tyler posted a video on Facebook that attributed a bogus quote to Rubio. (The video quotes Rubio as saying the Bible didn’t hold many answers, when he actually said “all the answers are in there.”)

Cruz fired Tyler, and called the spokesman’s actions “a grave error in judgment.” (Tyler also apologized for posting the video.)

But by Thursday night, the acrimony between Rubio and Cruz mostly receded, as the opponents directed their firepower at Trump—the candidate who finished 20 points ahead of them in the Nevada caucuses last Saturday.

In an interview after Thursday’s debate, Cruz called Rubio a friend and said either one of them would make a better president than Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump faltered during the debate, failing to describe specific plans for replacing Obamacare, and wilting when Rubio pointed out how often Trump repeats himself. Trump replied, “I don’t repeat myself. I don’t repeat myself. I don’t repeat myself.”

After the debate, CNN’s Chris Cuomo gave copious amounts of time for Trump to opine on what he thought about the debate. (The exchange lasted so long Cuomo seemed to run out of questions.)

When Cuomo pressed Trump on why he wouldn’t release his tax returns, Trump repeated his insistence he wouldn’t publish the documents while the IRS is auditing him. He offered a dubious reason for why the IRS has audited him several times in recent years: It might be, he said, because “I’m a strong Christian.”

It’s a claim to Christian faith Trump continues to make without any evidence in his life. Indeed, the evidence points in the opposite direction: Trump makes no claims of repentance or church attendance, and he brags openly about clear sins, like greed and love of money.

Still, entrance polls in Nevada suggested Trump won more of the evangelical vote than Cruz. The same was true in South Carolina, though Cruz performed better among regular churchgoers than Trump.

Most notably, Trump has picked up the support of Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. and Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas. On Thursday afternoon, Trump gained support from another person with deep evangelical connections: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, announced she was joining Trump’s campaign as a senior adviser.

Sanders has been a longtime adviser to her father (an ordained Southern Baptist minister), including during his campaigns for president.

In a statement, she declared, “Like the other Republican candidates, Mr. Trump is pro-life, pro-marriage, and will appoint conservatives to the court.” Meanwhile, during the debate on Thursday night, Trump continued to defend abortion giant Planned Parenthood.

Trump said he disapproved of the group’s abortion practices, but that the organization has helped “millions of women.” He didn’t mention the millions of babies who have died as part of Planned Parenthood’s business.

Sanders’ endorsement of Trump could be important ahead of the Super Tuesday slate of GOP primary contests next week, particularly in her native Arkansas. It’s also raised questions about whether Gov. Huckabee might endorse Trump, though the former candidate hasn’t publicly supported anyone yet.

Thursday night’s debate also raised questions about how long retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Ohio Gov. John Kasich will stay in the race. In Nevada, Carson won 4.8 percent of the vote. Kasich won 3.6 percent.

For Republicans itching for a substantial challenge to Trump, an even bigger conundrum remains: How long will Rubio and Cruz continue splitting the vote for second place before the race is whittled down to a two-man contest?

Stay tuned for Super Tuesday.

The results from the 11 Republican nominating contests on Tuesday will tell us more about the viability of each campaign. Pressure remains high for Cruz to win his home state of Texas, and for Rubio to win a primary on his own. The results will also indicate whether Trump has staying power across the South ahead of more contests in two weeks.

For now, each of the candidates plans to spend at least part of the weekend in the Bible Belt, a place where Trump seems emboldened rather than intimidated. Earlier this week, he proclaimed, “Nobody reads the Bible more than me.”