Even as his grip loosens on the front-runner status he has enjoyed in the Republican presidential race, Donald Trump is once again center stage as the party's third presidential debate gets underway in Boulder, Colorado, a liberal bastion in a political battleground state.
The focus in the debate, the first since several polls suggested that the lead in the Republican race may be changing, is likely to be on Trump and the man standing next to him in a lineup based on their recent polling stature: Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who in recent weeks has begun closing in on the front-runner.
Carson is leading several recent polls of Iowa Republicans, including one by Bloomberg Politics and the Des Moines Register. This week he dislodged Trump from the top spot in a national poll. A New York Times/CBS News survey released Tuesday showed Carson as the choice of 26 percent of Republican primary voters, compared to 22 percent for Trump, a difference within the margin of error.
Tonight's debate, hosted by CNBC and focused on the economy, seems to be a golden opportunity for Trump, a billionaire businessman to bounce back. Polls show voters trust him as much or more as other Republican presidential candidates on economic issues.
He'll have competition: Among the nine other contenders in the prime time debate are Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett- Packard chief executive officer who regularly touts her business experience, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who has built his campaign around made a promise of 4 percent economic growth. Bush has also spent much of the decade since he left office in the private sector, consulting for Lehman Brothers and Barclays Plc. He also served on the boards of companies including Tenet Healthcare Corp., Rayonier Inc., Empower Software Holdings and Geo Fossil Fuels LLC.
"Jeb will frame the race around who can actually fix the problems we face as a nation," Sally Bradshaw, Bush's chief adviser, said in an e-mail to Bloomberg on Wednesday. "He’ll lay out his agenda of reform and growth to put more money in people’s pockets and give the middle class a pay raise."
Bush will be under pressure to perform: He stood next to Trump during the first two debates, but has displaced after a drop in the polls by his Miami neighbor, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.
Rubio, whose preparations included weight-lifting in a nearby hotel gym about 24 hours before the debate, has won strong marks for his performances in the previous two debates. He team says he's seeking to replicate those performances, while being prepared for a potentially more aggressive tone from Bush. Ahead of the debate, Rubio released a playful fantasy football- themed video that made mention of Carson, Bush and Cruz.
The debate was held hours after Federal Reserve policy makers indicated that they would consider raising the benchmark interest rate at their next meeting in December, as the economy has recently logged a slower pace of job gains, and hours after the U.S. House of Representatives approved a budget deal negotiated by President Barack Obama and leaders of the Republican party but opposed by many conservative Republicans.
Held in a state that swings back and forth between Republicans and Democrats — electing Republican senator two years after handing its electoral college votes to Obama — the debate's venue in many respects represents the political cross- currents in the country. It is being held in the Coors Events Center, named for a family that has financed conservative causes and candidates, on the campus of the University of Colorado in a town that locals affectionately dub the "People's Republic of Boulder." Located about 35 miles northwest of Denver, Boulder was a destination for participants in 1960s counterculture. It was among the first communities in the nation to issue same sex marriage licenses in the 1970s, and is known to be the site of clothing-optional bike rides. One of the town's unofficial mottos is, “Keep Boulder Weird."
Colorado is one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana use, and it's a state where one in five residents is Hispanic, a voting bloc that Bush and Rubio are especially trying to attract to the party. It's also a state that has seen two of the most horrific gun massacres in recent history, and where two state lawmakers were recalled for supporting stricter gun control laws.
Other candidates on stage are U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Ohio Governor John Kasich and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Earlier in the evening, the undercard debate featured four presidential candidates lagging in the polls: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, former New York Governor George Pataki and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. All four have been stuck in the so-called happy hour debate for all the previous debates with no sign of an uptick on their polling.
The candidates in the earlier debate attacked both Democrats and Washington. "We need an outsider," said Pataki, who served as a mayor, assemblyman, state senator and New York governor. Graham wisecracked at the expense of his fellow senator, Bernie Sanders, a socialist who is running behind Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination. "The No. 2 guy went to the Soviet Union on his honeymoon and I don't think he ever came back," Graham said.
One or more of those on the main stage tonight may not make the prime-time show at the next gathering on Nov. 10 in Milwaukee. For that session, candidates will have to earn 2.5 percent or higher support in the four newest national polls prior to the debate.
The first two Republican debates attracted record-breaking audiences for the cable networks that aired them, a landmark for which Trump has taken credit. But even the one-time reality TV star may have a hard time drawing eyeballs to this debate: It's airing at the same time as game 2 of Major League Baseball's World Series match-up between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets.<
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