Oct 29, 2015 9 min read

Wake Up To Politics - October 29, 2015

To read today's edition of Wake Up To Politics in a PDF format, click here. Continue reading to find the text of the Wake Up in the body of the email!

Thursday, October 29, 2015
36 Days until Election Day 2016
95 Days until the Iowa Caucuses
5 Days until Election Day 2015It's Thursday, October 29, 2015, I'm Gabe Fleisher for Wake Up To Politics, and reporting from WUTP world HQ in my bedroom - Good morning: THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!!
To send me questions, comments, tips, new subscribers, and more: email me at wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com. To learn more about WUTP and subscribe, visit the site: wakeuptopolitics.com, or like me on Twitter and Facebook. More ways to engage with WUTP at the bottom. 2016 Central

The Boulder Brawl: Post-Debate Analysis – Winners and Losers Who came out on top – and on bottom – after last night’s third Republican presidential debate:
WINNERS
Ted Cruz The Texas senator’s best moments were all slamming the media. He didn’t get many substantive points in, but past elections show that may not be what voters care about, and attacks on the mainstream media are always popular in a Republican primary race (see Gingrich, Newt). Cruz did very well last night, and should expect some gains post-debate.
Chris Christie The New Jersey governor did not get too much time last night, but he used it well, with the angry outbursts he is known for (last night, he loudly asked “why the hell” the moderator questions were about fantasy sports). Christie didn’t particularly stand out, but he certainly didn’t lose, and he definitely did stand on the edge of the stage content to allow those closer to the center fight it out all night, as others were.
Lindsey Graham Of the undercard debate (made up of the four loser candidates), the South Carolina senator once again was the only standout candidate. Graham was funny, and got laughs for humorous comments on a range of topics (for example, what he said about the Democratic field: “The No. 1 candidate says she was flat broke even though she spent eight years in the White House. The No. 2 guy went to the Soviet Union on his honeymoon and I don't think he ever came back.”)
He was certainly the winner among losers, but it probably won’t matter much. Graham was not able to translate a win at the undercard into better poll numbers after the last debate, and he will likely not be able to do so again.
Marco Rubio The Florida senator owned the night. From his response to Jeb Bush attacks early on, to his slam of the mainstream media, some of the best lines of the debate came from Rubio, who stood out among his opponents.
Rubio’s goal in this debate was to reach a wider portion of the GOP electorate; perhaps he achieved it: Rubio was the #1 most-searched candidate after the debate, according to Google. The Floridian was also #2 in terms of speaking time (behind only Fiorina), according to a NPR count.
LOSERS
Jeb Bush This debate was crunch time for the former Florida governor. With his campaign treading water after layoffs and a fundraising lull, Bush needed to stand strong at the debate and deliver a knockout performance. That’s not what happened.
Bush fell prey to Marco Rubio, attempting to engage his former protégé, only to find that Rubio got the better of their exchange, with a much stronger counterpunch than Bush’s initial attack.
Donald Trump The businessman did not do horribly, but certainly did not live up to expectation set from the past two debates. Trump was largely invisible for long stretches of last night’s debate, a huge departure from his previous performances, where he dominated.
Whether or not that will hurt Trump remains to be seen, but we do know this: Trump supporters like Trump because of his brash personality, which was not fully present last night (he only insulted one of his GOP rivals, a personal low). Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz will likely grow in the polls, meanwhile, and Trump’s lead in the race may continue to shrink after this debate.
Carly Fiorina/Mike Huckabee/Rand Paul/John Kasich All four of these candidates are combined together, because their losing characteristic was the same: they had no fireworks. The latter three (a former governor, senator, and sitting governor) have all been sinking over the course of the campaign, and this debate was do-or-die time for them. None of them broke out into the top tier, and will all soon fade away into nonexistence.
Fiorina, meanwhile, did not suffer from lack of speaking time at the debate or from a far-off podium position. She just suffered from failing to meet expectations, and misusing her ample time. Fiorina also failed to deliver any fireworks or great lines at the debate last night. For Huckabee/Paul/Kasich, that was expected. For Fiorina, it is doubly painful after considering her past debate successes. She gave a good defense of her HP record, and got some laughs for her opening answer, but did nothing to gain back the ground she won after the CNN debate, but has since been losing, and change her losing trend.
CNBC The network’s hosting of the debate was nearly universally-condemned. CNBC started out the debate poorly: 15 minutes late, using bizarre conversation between its pundits to fill time. Then, their debate questions often covered unimportant topics; others were just observations (Rick Santelli’s rant at the undercard debate).
In addition, the moderators (note the plural, denoting the oddly large cast of questioners) seemed to want to argue with candidates just as much as they wanted the candidates to argue with each other (Becky Quick tangling with Carson over math and fighting with and then apologizing to Trump over a quote from his website, John Harwood disputing Trump claim that the debate was going to be 2+ hours). In all, they did a poor job moderating and controlling the candidates.
CNBC was a target for many of the candidates, and afterwards was blasted in a statement by RNC chairman Reince Priebus, who said, "While I was proud of our candidates and the way they handled tonight’s debate, the performance by the CNBC moderators was extremely disappointing and did a disservice to their network, our candidates, and voters…CNBC should be ashamed of how this debate was handled.”
MIXED
Ben Carson Finally, the retired neurosurgeon-turned-presidential frontrunner. Carson only clocked in with seven minutes of speaking time, per NPR, in a 120-minute debate. For most any other candidate, this would be a campaign-ending event. For Carson, it is exactly was expected.
Carson has been successful because of his ability to keep his trademark cool demeanor, and that was on full display last night. Carson was mixed because he didn’t do particularly well, but he also didn’t lose. Trump and Carson, the leaders of the field, were both invisible for a lot of the debate. For Trump, that is a loss because his supporters expect a bombastic, roaring candidate. That’s not what Carson supporters expect or want from their candidate, so they are not likely to be disappointed with him for his meager performance last night.
Brawl in Boulder: Verbatim – What Was Said Zingers Here’s the best zingers from GOP candidates in last night’s debate:
vs. Democrats
Bush: “You find me a Democrat for cutting spending $10. I’ll give ‘em a warm kiss.”
Christie: “Where I see the weakness is in those three people that are left on the Democratic stage. You know, I see a socialist, an isolationist and a pessimist. And for the sake of me, I can’t figure out which one is which.”
Cruz: “The men and women on this stage have more ideas, more experience, more common sense than every participant in the Democratic debate.”
vs. Each Other
Bush on Rubio: “I’m a constituent of the senator and I helped him and I expected that he would do constituent service, which means that he shows up to work…But Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term, and you should be showing up to work. I mean, literally, the Senate — what is it, like a French work week? You get, like, three days where you have to show up? You can campaign, or just resign and let someone else take the job.”
Rubio response: “Well, it’s interesting. Over the last few weeks, I’ve listened to Jeb as he walked around the country and said that you’re modeling your campaign after John McCain…You know how many votes John McCain missed when he was carrying out that furious comeback that you’re now modeling after? …I don’t remember you ever complaining about John McCain’s vote record. 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.”
Trump on Kasich: “But then his poll numbers tanked…that is why he is on the end.”
vs. Media
Rubio: “Let me say, I read that [Sun-Sentinel] editorial [calling for his resignation] today with a great amusement. It’s actually evidence of the bias that exists in the American media today…This is another example of the double standard that exists in this country between the mainstream media and the conservative movement.”
Rubio: “The Democrats have the ultimate superPAC. It’s called the mainstream media”
vs. CNBC moderators
Cruz: “The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media. This is not a cage match. And, you look at the questions — ‘Donald Trump, are you a comic-book villain?’ ‘Ben Carson, can you do math?’ ‘John Kasich, will you insult two people over here?’ ‘Marco Rubio, why don’t you resign?’ ‘Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen?’ How about talking about the substantive issues the people care about? …The contrast with the Democratic debate, where every fawning question from the media was, “Which of you is more handsome and why?”
Christie: “Do you want to answer, or do you want me to answer? Even in New Jersey what you are doing is called rude.”
Trump: “It’s not a very nicely asked question the way you say that.”
Moderator: “I asked you about the debt limit and I got no answer.”
Cruz: “You want me to answer that question? I'm happy to answer the question. Let me tell you how that question...”
Moderator: “Senator Paul, I’ve got a question for you on the same subject.”
Cruz: “So you don’t actually want to hear the answer...?”
Moderator: “Senator Paul?”
Cruz: “You don’t want to hear the answer. You just want to…”
Moderator: “You used your time on something else. Senator Paul?”

Now a look ahead at some of the news happening today:

Capitol Hill News

Today in the House Today’s House session opens at 9am, with the Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, and then a 9:05am quorum call.
At 9:40am, Speaker John Boehner will speak from his lectern above the House floor for the last time, delivering his farewell remarks. Shortly before 10am, a roll call vote will be held to elect Boehner’s successor, the 54^th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
The Speaker-elect will be announced at 11:05am by the House Sergeant at Arms, and presented to the House for his/her remarks by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
At 11:20am, a new era of Congress will begin, as the new Speaker is sworn in by Rep. John Conyers, who administers the Oath of Office in his capacity as Dean of the House.
Once the new Speaker is sworn in, Boehner will submit two letters of resignation, stepping down from his position as Representative of Ohio’s 8^th Congressional District: one will go to Ohio Governor John Kasich, the other to the Speaker of the House, his successor. Boehner flies home to Ohio tomorrow.
No congressman/woman has voted yet, of course, but Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is largely expected to be that Speaker-elect. Ryan, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was chosen as the Republican nominee for Speaker on Wednesday; if enough Republicans stand behind him, which is likely (although not all will), Ryan will become Speaker.
When he is handed the Speaker’s gavel, Ryan will hope to be a unifying figure for his party, leading the fractured GOP Conference away from the Boehner era and into a new one.

White House Watch

The President’s Schedule At 12:30pm, President Obama will meet with Vice President Joe Biden for lunch.
At 2:45pm, the President will sit down with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
Finally, at 7:25pm, Obama will participate in a roundtable fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in McLean, Virginia.