Key takeaways from Democratic presidential debate in Iowa
There were several notable moments in the debate.
Tonight’s Debate: The how, when and who
This is the last Democratic debate before the all important Iowa caucuses.
Donald Trump auditions Cabinet prospects high above Manhattan
Donald Trump held court from his perch high above Manhattan on Monday, receiving a line of former rivals, longtime allies and TV executives while overseeing a presidential transition that at times resembles a reality show like the one he once hosted. Trump met with nearly a dozen prospective hires, all of whom were paraded in front of the cameras set up in the Trump Tower lobby as they entered an elevator to see the president-elect. Out of public view himself, he fell back on his TV star roots by filming a video that touted his legislative goals once he takes office. Trump; did not immediately announce any appointments after the meetings, which came on the heels of a two-day whirlwind of interviews at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. Unlike his predecessors, who often spoke with Cabinet candidates under a cloud of secrecy, Trump has turned the search into a very public audition process. The extraordinary exercise took on a routine feel on Monday: First, former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown stepped off the gold-plated elevator into the marble-coated lobby after his meeting to declare to waiting reporters that he was “the best person” to become Veterans Affairs secretary. Next, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a candidate for interior secretary, did much the same, striding off the lift to say she had “a wonderful discussion” with Trump. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry declined to speak to reporters, but he did take time for a photo with the Naked Cowboy, the underwear-sporting, guitar-strumming New York institution who is normally a fixture at Times Square but has spent recent days camped out at Trump Tower singing about the president-elect. Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned her post on the Democratic National Committee after endorsing Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton, also met with Trump but entered and exited out of sight. She later defended crossing party lines to meet with Trump about U.S. involvement in Syria, saying in a statement she would never “play politics with American and Syrian lives.” Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a longtime Trump ally, also arrived with his wife, Callista, and told reporters that he indicated to Trump that he was interested in being a “senior planner” to coordinate long-term political efforts among the Republicans in control of all three branches of government. Senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said of the visitors, “Not all of them will be in his Cabinet and his federal government, but they are all incredibly important in offering their points of views, their experience and certainly their vision of the country.” No one was saying whether Trump would announce more appointments before heading to Florida for Thanksgiving. He was planning to leave Tuesday or Wednesday to spend the holiday at his Mar-a-Lago estate, while Vice President-elect Mike Pence will spend Thanksgiving in Mississippi, where his Marine son is stationed. Trump has largely remained out of sight since winning the election, save for a flurry of brief public appearances over the weekend, often with Pence at his side, to flash thumbs-ups and provide quick updates on his progress in building a government. He remained in the upper floors of his skyscraper Monday, seeking counsel on the phone and interviewing candidates all while keeping an eye on the cable news coverage of the day’s events. He appeared in a two-and-a-half minute video released late Monday in which he pledged to the American people that he was appointing “patriots” to his administration and reiterated a number of his campaign promises, including plans to renegotiate trade deals, scrap excessive regulations and institute a five-year ban on executive officials becoming lobbyists. The video — which made no mention of key pledges to build a border wall with Mexico or repeal the Affordable Care Act — continues the president-elect’s practice of trying to go over the heads of the media and take his case directly to the American public. Since Election Day, he has twice ditched the group of reporters designated to follow his movements and has so far eschewed the traditional news conference held by the president-elect in the days after winning. Trump has not held a full-fledged news conference since July. But the media were clearly on his mind as he met with executives and on-air personalities from TV networks. He frequently singled out the media — declaring them “so dishonest” — for criticism during the campaign, but it’s not unusual for presidents to hold off-the-record meetings with journalists when trying to promote policies or programs. Among the attendees were NBC anchor Lester Holt and “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd, ABC’s “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos and anchor David Muir, CBS’ “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and several executives at the networks. None of the attendees would discuss the meeting with reporters in the lobby, though Conway said it was “very cordial, very productive, very congenial.” Those Trump met with over the weekend included former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a former critic now being considered for secretary of state; retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, who Trump dubbed an “impressive” prospect for defense secretary, and billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, who is under consideration for Commerce secretary. “We’ve made a couple of deals,” Trump said Sunday. He gave assurances that “incredible meetings” would be bringing “incredible people” into the government. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Abrasive Ted Cruz tries to use personality to his advantage
Ted Cruz‘s reputation as an arrogant, grating, in-your-face ideologue has dogged him throughout the Republican presidential race. But it hasn’t stopped the Texas senator’s rise. Cruz is increasingly embracing his irascible persona, trying to turn what could be a liability into an asset. “If you want someone to grab a beer with, I may not be that guy,” Cruz said at a Republican debate this fall when asked to describe his biggest weakness. “But if you want someone to drive you home, I will get the job done and I will get you home.” Cruz and his supporters relish his outsider status, highlighting his conflicts with fellow Republican senators. Not one has endorsed him for president. A group backing Cruz’s candidacy sent out a fundraising email plea in December with the subject line “Washington hates Ted Cruz.” Cruz frequently rails against the “Washington cartel,” which he argues is scared that conservatives are uniting behind him, and says he’s glad that “Washington elites” despise him. Cruz supporters, including some who turned up for a large rally at an evangelical church near Richmond, Virginia, in December, are embracing the abrasiveness that’s caused Cruz to clash with other Republicans. “They view him as a renegade in the GOP,” said Carter Cobb, 56 and retired from the Navy, from Mechanicsville, Virginia. “He doesn’t toe the party line. That’s what we’re trying to get away from.” To Cobb and others, Cruz is the only candidate willing to make anyone angry and stand up for what he believes in. “It makes me like him all the more. I’ve always liked people who were on the outside,” said Daniel Daehlin, 51, from Richfield, Minnesota. “Ronald Reagan never got along with the establishment. They hated him in 1976 and ’80. I like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — someone who goes there, speaks his mind and doesn’t try to cater to the inside-the-Beltway crowd.” Myra Simons, a Cruz backer from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, agrees. “Are we going to elect someone just because you can’t sit across the table and have dinner with them?” Simons said. “Or are you going to stand with someone who stands with the Constitution and is serious about the trouble our country is in?” Cruz made his reputation in the Senate by refusing to compromise. He filibustered for 21 hours against President Barack Obama‘s health care law. The confrontational strategy he championed resulted in a 16-day partial government shutdown and alienated GOP leaders. But his reading of “Green Eggs and Ham” during that filibuster became a seminal moment for Cruz. He frequently refers to it, including in a recent television ad he ran in Iowa where he reads to his two daughters from reimagined holiday stories with a conservative bent such as “The Grinch Who Lost Her Emails.” While the ad was designed to be funny, Cruz is not known for his sense of humor. Foreign Policy magazine once described him as “the human equivalent of one of those flower-squirters that clowns wear on their lapels.” The national collegiate debating champion has shown his brusque side in the presidential debates, including the most recent one in Las Vegas when he refused to stop talking even as moderator Wolf Blitzer of CNN tried to shut him down. Craig Mazin, who was Cruz’s freshman roommate at Princeton, went so far as to tell the Daily Beast in a 2013 interview that he would be happier with anyone other than Cruz as president. “I would rather pick somebody from the phone book,” Mazin said. But Cruz has shown a lighter side that his campaign says demonstrates he’s not as unlikable as his reputation suggests. Cruz acted out scenes from “The Princess Bride” during a November interview at WMUR in New Hampshire, and that clip has been watched more than 250,000 times on YouTube. After rival Donald Trump referred to Cruz as “a little bit of a maniac,” the Cruz campaign tried to laugh it off by posting a video on Twitter of the song “Maniac” from the film “Flashdance.” Research shows that the importance of a candidates’ likability may be overrated anyway, said David Redlawsk, a Rutgers University expert in Iowa electoral politics who is spending the fall at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. “Voters are looking for a whole range of things,” Redlawsk said, “and likability is just one small part of that.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
