The Republican Presidential Debate had some candidates that took a backseat, but two Floridians stood out, Senator Marco Rubio and Former Governor Jeb Bush exchanged words that could harm one candidate and help another.
Molly Reynolds, a Governance Studies fellow at the Brookings Institution weighed in on the exchange.
Senator Marco Rubio from Florida broke out of his shell and made a statement for himself. Rubio is a freshman Senator that received backlash prior to the debate when a Florida newspaper called for his resignation after he missed votes.
Bush, who many believe is fading, also took a jab at those missed votes.
“But Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term, and you should be showing up to work,” Bush said.
Bush’s attack on Rubio did not affect the young Senator. He responded by saying, “the only reason why you’re doing it now is because we’re running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you,” Rubio said.
“I think Rubio did very well; he responded well to several potentially tricky questions, and managed to pivot several unrelated questions back to his central talking points,” Reynolds said.
Jeb Bush took a backseat to the debate and faded in the background. Bush has been losing traction in recent polls and cut salaries and staff positions in order to save money as his fundraising efforts decrease.
“I agree with those who thought that Jeb Bush did not have a great performance, but the fact that he still has significant financial resources means that he has no incentive to leave the race even if he is polling poorly,” Reynolds said about Bush’s performance.
“You find a Democrat that’s for cutting taxes — cutting spending ten dollars, I’ll give them a warm kiss,” Bush said in his most memorable quote of the night.
Bush and Rubio are going head to head, but are only 2 of 16 candidates seeking the nomination.
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