Trump-less debate helps Cruz

Republican front runner Donald Trump. Gage Skidmore [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Republican front runner Donald Trump. Gage Skidmore [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Matt Schoedel, Reporter
February 10, 2016

A Republican debate took place with one less candidate at the podiums on January 28.  

The frontrunner for the Republican party, Donald Trump, boycotted the debate due to feuding with Fox News.

The top attending candidates were: Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson and Chris Christie.The debate started off with many jokes about the absence of front-runner Donald Trump from moderator Megyn Kelly and candidate Ted Cruz.   

Donald Trump talking at his own event at his house. By Alex Hanson from Ames, Iowa (Trump at ISU - 1/19/2016) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Donald Trump talking at his own event at his house. By Alex Hanson from Ames, Iowa (Trump at ISU – 1/19/2016) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Trump’s absence created chances for the other candidates to show Americans why they believe they should be the President of the United States.

Most of the talking was done by the two main candidates on the stage at that time, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

Rubio got into an argument with Jeb Bush over immigration policy.

The two took constant shots at each other about changing views to please the audience and win the election.  

Jeb Bush sniped at Rubio, saying that he tried to change his views because it wasn’t popular with the conservatives.

Even without Trump at the debate, there was still plenty of bickering between candidates.

Candidates fought with each other like crazy and took shots at each other. Even the moderator was attacked by Cruz.

Cruz felt that moderator Chris Wallace was having the candidates attack him with many questions relating to him and jokingly threatened to leave the stage.

The most recent Republican debate was definitely an interesting one to watch, and one of the best ones for the candidates that needed some catching up to do with Trump.

Ted Cruz the winner of the republican party in Iowa. By United States Senate (Office of Senator Ted Cruz) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Ted Cruz is the winner of the republican party in Iowa. By United States Senate (Office of Senator Ted Cruz) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The Trump-less debate had such a pull that Ted Cruz managed to win Iowa with Trump coming in a close second.

Cruz had 8 delegates and 27.6% of the votes, while Trump had 7 delegates and 24.3% of the votes.

Marco Rubio speaking about his campaign. By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Marco Rubio) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Marco Rubio speaks about his campaign. By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Marco Rubio) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons