GOP candidates battle moderators in third debate

The third Republican presidential debate featured 10 candidates who collectively emerged as the clear winner—over the moderators.

The CNBC-hosted debate at the University of Colorado Boulder yielded plenty of fireworks but less substance than previous GOP debates hosted by Fox News and CNN. The CNBC moderators, who drew advance criticism for their left-leaning biases, lost control of the debate stage early and talked over candidates and each other repeatedly.

“I’m embarrassed to be a part of this debate,” billionaire businessman Donald Trump tweeted during a break.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas scored perhaps the biggest cheer of the night when he blasted CNBC’s three moderators shortly before the first commercial break.

“The questions that have been asked so far in tonight's debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media,” Cruz said. It was an off-the-charts moment with viewers, who were expressing their frustration on social media.

In a debate titled “Your Money, Your Vote,” a large number of questions featured personal attacks. Moderators went after Trump on bankruptcies and his "comic book” campaign, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for his personal debt and missing Senate votes, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson for his associations with Costco and a controversial nutritional supplement company.

Wednesday’s bout came amid shifting currents in the Republican race: Two national polls and two Iowa polls in October showed Carson leading the field, breaking Trump’s four-month stranglehold at the top of major surveys. In the second tier of candidates, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s downward trend has helped create openings for Cruz, Rubio, and Carly Fiorina, whose support spiked after the former Hewlett-Packard CEO’s standout debate performance in September.

Fiorina—who led the field in talk time—was again solid, but Cruz and Rubio shined brighter. Cruz touted his new tax plan and ideas to save Social Security, while Rubio promoted his own tax plan and slammed Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi testimony for exposing her “as a liar.”

Rubio and Cruz adeptly handled hostile questions, as did New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who had his best debate performance so far. Late in the event, Christie took CNBC moderator John Harwood to task for interrupting him: “John, do you want to answer or do you want me to answer? How are we going to do this? Because, I’ve got to tell you the truth, even in New Jersey what you are doing is called rude.”

Bush and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky—who has faced increasing pressure to focus on his Senate race—both needed breakout performances but didn’t get them. They were the only two candidates who spoke for less than seven minutes during the two-hour debate.

Bush went after Rubio for his absentee record in the Senate, but Rubio used it as an opportunity to bash media bias and Bush’s strategy, drawing applause from the audience.

“Someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you,” he told Bush. “It’s not.”

When Trump criticized the Super PACs used by other candidates, Rubio again turned it on the media: “Democrats have the ultimate Super PAC—it's called the mainstream media.”

Fiorina made one of the best fiscal points of the night when she urged a return to zero-baseline budgeting (see WORLD’s “Addition by subtraction”), but moderators did not use it to spark a policy conversation. They did ask a question about regulating gambling on fantasy football, to which Christie exploded: “We have ISIS and al-Qaeda attacking us, and we're talking about fantasy football?”

At least two questions drew boos from the audience, and even left-leaning journalists criticized the moderators on social media.

Despite the debate’s location at a college campus, higher education only came up briefly, and student debt wasn’t covered at all.

Earlier Wednesday evening, four candidates polling outside of the top 10 squared off an in undercard debate. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has built his campaign around his foreign policy expertise, performed best with a mix of jokes and barbs against the Obama administration.

2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney tweeted:

After hearing @LindseyGrahamSC talk foreign policy tonight, it's clear he belongs on the big stage.

— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) October 28, 2015