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| Team Clinton on GOP debate: no talk of 'the problems that keep you up at night' | Team Clinton on GOP debate: no talk of 'the problems that keep you up at night' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| As Republican candidates vacillated on Wednesday between charged discussions over immigration policy and military invention in the Middle East and more frivolous sparring contests with Donald Trump at the second presidential debate, Hillary Clinton’s campaign paid little attention to the winners and losers. | As Republican candidates vacillated on Wednesday between charged discussions over immigration policy and military invention in the Middle East and more frivolous sparring contests with Donald Trump at the second presidential debate, Hillary Clinton’s campaign paid little attention to the winners and losers. |
| Related: Carly Fiorina dominates turbulent Republican debate as Trump fends off attacks | Related: Carly Fiorina dominates turbulent Republican debate as Trump fends off attacks |
| Instead, those working to elect the US’s first female president were bracing themselves for what they said would be a fight over the basic principles that define the country – chief among them gender equality and respect for the nation’s immigrants. | Instead, those working to elect the US’s first female president were bracing themselves for what they said would be a fight over the basic principles that define the country – chief among them gender equality and respect for the nation’s immigrants. |
| Speaking to reporters gathered at their headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, Clinton campaign officials maintained an air of confidence in their ability to draw a sharp contrast with any Republican who might secure the party’s nomination from a field of 16 presidential hopefuls. | Speaking to reporters gathered at their headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, Clinton campaign officials maintained an air of confidence in their ability to draw a sharp contrast with any Republican who might secure the party’s nomination from a field of 16 presidential hopefuls. |
| “There was a good bit of showmanship,” Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director, told reporters after the debate, but little substance in terms of policy proposals. | “There was a good bit of showmanship,” Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director, told reporters after the debate, but little substance in terms of policy proposals. |
| “[In the] last debate [in August] we didn’t see a lot of discussion about middle-class economic issues. This time that was even more lacking,” Palmieri said, citing college affordability, childcare, and equal pay as issues that went unmentioned in the Republican debate this time. | “[In the] last debate [in August] we didn’t see a lot of discussion about middle-class economic issues. This time that was even more lacking,” Palmieri said, citing college affordability, childcare, and equal pay as issues that went unmentioned in the Republican debate this time. |
| “They seemed to have a lot of interplay between each other and that might make for entertaining television, but as voters are watching this they’re really seeing a party that is not talking about any of the issues that you hear Hillary Clinton talk about – the problems that keep you up at night.” | “They seemed to have a lot of interplay between each other and that might make for entertaining television, but as voters are watching this they’re really seeing a party that is not talking about any of the issues that you hear Hillary Clinton talk about – the problems that keep you up at night.” |
| Palmieri addressed reporters at a center for the media created by the campaign to provide real-time rapid response to the Republican debate – a set-up Clinton’s team also used during the first GOP debate in August. | Palmieri addressed reporters at a center for the media created by the campaign to provide real-time rapid response to the Republican debate – a set-up Clinton’s team also used during the first GOP debate in August. |
| The walls of the press room were adorned with posters contrasting the views of Ronald Reagan with those of some of the candidates standing on stage at the late Republican president’s namesake library in Simi Valley, California. | The walls of the press room were adorned with posters contrasting the views of Ronald Reagan with those of some of the candidates standing on stage at the late Republican president’s namesake library in Simi Valley, California. |
| Clinton camp HQ contrasting Reagan vs. current GOP candidates on the issues at its debate filing center pic.twitter.com/ZaFCGiyRa0 | Clinton camp HQ contrasting Reagan vs. current GOP candidates on the issues at its debate filing center pic.twitter.com/ZaFCGiyRa0 |
| Donald Trump, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, Florida senator Marco Rubio and Texas senator Ted Cruz were all featured alongside quotes from Reagan articulating a seemingly more liberal view on issues such as taxes, gun policy and unions, as the Clinton campaign sought to underscore just how far to the right the party has tacked itself in recent years. | Donald Trump, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, Florida senator Marco Rubio and Texas senator Ted Cruz were all featured alongside quotes from Reagan articulating a seemingly more liberal view on issues such as taxes, gun policy and unions, as the Clinton campaign sought to underscore just how far to the right the party has tacked itself in recent years. |
| Down the hall from the press, roughly 15 staff members watched the debate from a “war room”, where they blasted out responses to the debate that ranged from an overview of Trump’s immigration plan to details of each candidate’s record on women’s reproductive rights. | Down the hall from the press, roughly 15 staff members watched the debate from a “war room”, where they blasted out responses to the debate that ranged from an overview of Trump’s immigration plan to details of each candidate’s record on women’s reproductive rights. |
| The campaign homed in several times on Republican vows to defund reproductive health organization Planned Parenthood, as conservatives in Washington are escalating pressure on party leaders to eliminate federal funding for the women’s health group – even at the risk of a government shutdown. Several candidates, including Bush and Walker, reiterated their commitment to leaving Planned Parenthood penniless – and those who did not have the opportunity to chime in on the debate stage have all pledged to defund the organization if elected president. | The campaign homed in several times on Republican vows to defund reproductive health organization Planned Parenthood, as conservatives in Washington are escalating pressure on party leaders to eliminate federal funding for the women’s health group – even at the risk of a government shutdown. Several candidates, including Bush and Walker, reiterated their commitment to leaving Planned Parenthood penniless – and those who did not have the opportunity to chime in on the debate stage have all pledged to defund the organization if elected president. |
| “What will matter for the Republicans a year from now is that each candidate stood on the stage and said they would defund Planned Parenthood,” Palmieri said. “Some would even favor shutting down the government in order to defund Planned Parenthood. That is what’s going to stand out from this debate, and that’s what is going to matter a year from now.” | “What will matter for the Republicans a year from now is that each candidate stood on the stage and said they would defund Planned Parenthood,” Palmieri said. “Some would even favor shutting down the government in order to defund Planned Parenthood. That is what’s going to stand out from this debate, and that’s what is going to matter a year from now.” |
| The same point was echoed by Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, in a short rallying speech to staff members ahead of the debate, who cheered his comments while huddled around their desks and on beanbag chairs as they prepared to watch what they might be up against. | |
| “Every single one of the candidates on that stage supports defunding Planned Parenthood. Many of them want to shut down the government to defund Planned Parenthood,” Mook said. “I can tell you one thing: if Hillary Clinton is president, that will never happen, and that’s why we’re here.” | “Every single one of the candidates on that stage supports defunding Planned Parenthood. Many of them want to shut down the government to defund Planned Parenthood,” Mook said. “I can tell you one thing: if Hillary Clinton is president, that will never happen, and that’s why we’re here.” |
| He also noted that despite the overtures by some candidates such as Bush toward Latino voters, none of the Republican candidates support a “real, equal pathway to citizenship” for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US, many of them Hispanic. | He also noted that despite the overtures by some candidates such as Bush toward Latino voters, none of the Republican candidates support a “real, equal pathway to citizenship” for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US, many of them Hispanic. |
| Related: Playground atmosphere at Republican debate puts antics ahead of substance | Related: Playground atmosphere at Republican debate puts antics ahead of substance |
| Bush and Rubio, both fluent Spanish speakers, nonetheless tried to counter Trump’s hostility on the subject of immigration reform. The nearly three-hour debate saw fewer jabs at Clinton, and more efforts by candidates who have suffered amid Trump’s soaring poll numbers to diminish his standing. | Bush and Rubio, both fluent Spanish speakers, nonetheless tried to counter Trump’s hostility on the subject of immigration reform. The nearly three-hour debate saw fewer jabs at Clinton, and more efforts by candidates who have suffered amid Trump’s soaring poll numbers to diminish his standing. |
| Bush, in particular, took his more aggressive posture toward Trump from the campaign trail to the debate stage, and at one point demanded an apology from the reality TV star for stating earlier this year that Jeb has a “soft spot” for the Mexican people because his wife Columba Bush is Mexican. The two also sparred over Trump’s criticism of Bush for often speaking in Spanish – although Florida senator Marco Rubio stole the moment by invoking his grandfather. | Bush, in particular, took his more aggressive posture toward Trump from the campaign trail to the debate stage, and at one point demanded an apology from the reality TV star for stating earlier this year that Jeb has a “soft spot” for the Mexican people because his wife Columba Bush is Mexican. The two also sparred over Trump’s criticism of Bush for often speaking in Spanish – although Florida senator Marco Rubio stole the moment by invoking his grandfather. |
| As he often does on the campaign trail, Rubio wove his personal story – as the son of immigrants – into the equation by noting that he learned about the American dream from his grandfather, in Spanish. | As he often does on the campaign trail, Rubio wove his personal story – as the son of immigrants – into the equation by noting that he learned about the American dream from his grandfather, in Spanish. |
| “I do give interviews in Spanish, and here’s why – because I believe that free enterprise and limited government is the best way to help people who are trying to achieve upward mobility, and if they get their news in Spanish, I want them to hear that directly from me, not from a translator at Univision,” Rubio said to applause. | “I do give interviews in Spanish, and here’s why – because I believe that free enterprise and limited government is the best way to help people who are trying to achieve upward mobility, and if they get their news in Spanish, I want them to hear that directly from me, not from a translator at Univision,” Rubio said to applause. |
| It was the second time Rubio, a 44-year-old senator pitching himself as a candidate of the future, won plaudits for making the most of just a handful of questions during the course of the debate. | It was the second time Rubio, a 44-year-old senator pitching himself as a candidate of the future, won plaudits for making the most of just a handful of questions during the course of the debate. |
| The Floridian also commanded any discussion of foreign policy, while making a case for a more forceful US role overseas to combat the aggression of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, cyber-attacks by the Chinese, and to defeat the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Rubio’s anwers were often juxtaposed with those of Trump, who again struggled when faced with questions pertaining to international conflicts, as conservatives agreed the senator would be best equipped to take on Clinton, a former secretary of state, on foreign policy. | |
| Asked by the Guardian about suggestions that Rubio would pose the biggest threat to Clinton in a general election, Palmieri spoke about their potential opponents more broadly. | Asked by the Guardian about suggestions that Rubio would pose the biggest threat to Clinton in a general election, Palmieri spoke about their potential opponents more broadly. |
| The eventual nominee “will be someone who said we want to defund Planned Parenthood, it will likely be someone who hasn’t articulated a good policy on childcare or raising the minimum wage,” she said. “You haven’t heard any solutions that actually impact the economic problems we think people face every day.” | |
| The campaign had a similar response to Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO who received the most overwhelming response from political observers to her performance in the debate. Fiorina, who failed to qualify for the first official debate last month, seized on the opportunity to raise her profile and was especially praised over her handling of Trump and recent comments he made criticizing her face – which he later attempted to clarify as directed at her “persona”. | The campaign had a similar response to Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO who received the most overwhelming response from political observers to her performance in the debate. Fiorina, who failed to qualify for the first official debate last month, seized on the opportunity to raise her profile and was especially praised over her handling of Trump and recent comments he made criticizing her face – which he later attempted to clarify as directed at her “persona”. |
| “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr Trump said,” Fiorina said. | “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr Trump said,” Fiorina said. |
| When Trump attempted to make amends by remarking that she had a “beautiful face”, Fiorina appeared unamused. | When Trump attempted to make amends by remarking that she had a “beautiful face”, Fiorina appeared unamused. |
| While Palmieri said she appreciated Fiorina’s response to Trump, the rise of the Republican party’s only woman candidate would have little impact on Clinton. Palmieri pointed out that Fiorina’s biggest applause was for a lengthy attack on Planned Parenthood, and that there was no substantive difference between her and the other Republican candidates on the issues. | |
| Clinton’s campaign was also unmoved by the many attempts to knock Trump from his pedestal. Although Trump did not dominate the stage in the same way he did at last month’s debate, Team Clinton insisted that the real estate mogul was still the party’s standard-bearer. | Clinton’s campaign was also unmoved by the many attempts to knock Trump from his pedestal. Although Trump did not dominate the stage in the same way he did at last month’s debate, Team Clinton insisted that the real estate mogul was still the party’s standard-bearer. |
| “I think it’s disturbing that Jeb Bush allowed himself to be shushed by Donald Trump,” Mook said. “As Hillary Clinton said, this is no longer the party of Lincoln, this is the party of Trump.” | “I think it’s disturbing that Jeb Bush allowed himself to be shushed by Donald Trump,” Mook said. “As Hillary Clinton said, this is no longer the party of Lincoln, this is the party of Trump.” |
| He added: “He is driving the show here. He has a completely out-of-date and out-of-touch philosophy, and I think that’s a scary prospect for the general election.” |