After taking it in the chin from insurgents like Donald Trump and Ben Carson in the first two debates, establishment Republicans went on the offensive Wednesday night.
John Kasich, Ohio’s governor and former U.S. congressman who has watched his campaign shrivel in the polls, wasted no time in attacking the inexperienced front-runners on tax policy.
“Folks we’ve got to wake up. I’m the only person on this stage that actually was involved and the chief architect of balancing the federal budget. You can’t do it with empty promises,” Kasich said, referring to plans which slash tax rates under the assumption that booming economic growth will offset lost revenue. “You know, these plans would put us trillions in debt.”
The underdog’s harsh opening remarks drew the ire of Trump, who alleged that they were a sign of desperation.
“His poll numbers tanked and he got nasty,” Trump said of Kasich, followed by a wink to his left.
Carson withheld personal attacks and defended his tax policy by backing away from his former promise of a 10 percent tithe inspired by the Bible toward a 15 percent flat tax and promising to make up revenue by eliminating federal agencies.
“You make that up pretty quickly so that's not by any stretch pie in the sky,” Carson said.
Establishment figures also criticized attacks on social benefit programs by conservatives like Carson, who is open to slashing Medicare and Medicaid.
“People paid their money, they expect to have it,” said former Gov. Mike Huckabee. “And if this government doesn’t pay it, then tell me the difference between the government and Bernie Madoff.”
When asked about his plans for the budget, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, instead took the opportunity to dismiss his fellow candidates’ infighting as the result of liberal media bias.
“The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media,” Cruz said. “This is not a cage match, and you look at the questions … ‘Ben Carson can you do math?,’ ‘John Kasich will you insult two people over here?’ How about talking about the substantive issues people care about?”
Cruz compared it to a “Democratic debate where every question from the fawning media was ‘which one of you is more handsome and wise.’”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, continued the debate’s shift toward media bashing.
“Democrats have the ultimate super PAC,” Rubio said, defending Trump’s attack on big campaign contributions and PACs. “It's called the mainstream media.”
