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 Facing their first face-to-face debate on Thursday in Cleveland,
the candidates got in some warm-up action at the Voters First Forum.
The event lacked the punch of an actual debate but allowed
participants to talk up their policy beliefs in answer to questions
from a moderator.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina got in what was arguably
the zinger of the night when he declared himself uniquely qualified
to take on Democrat Hillary Clinton in a general election matchup in
November 2016. Clinton is currently the front runner among Democrats
seeking the presidential nomination.
"I am fluent in Clinton-speak," Graham said, proceeding to bring up
the Monica Lewinsky scandal that jeopardized Bill Clinton's
presidency in 1996 and Hillary Clinton's use of a private email
server while conducting official business as secretary of state.
"When Bill says he didn't have sex with that woman, he did," Graham
said. "When (Hillary Clinton) tells us: 'Trust me, you have all the
emails you need,' we haven't even scratched the surface....I
understand this crowd," he said.
 Trump, who leads polls of Republican voters in the 2016 race for a
presidential nominee, declined to appear at the event out of pique
over an editorial written about him by the New Hampshire Union
Leader newspaper, one of the sponsors of the event.
But the issue he has repeatedly railed about, illegal immigration,
was one of the most talked-about at the forum, and all the
candidates who addressed the issue said a solution must be found.
All stressed the need for ensuring the U.S. border is secure before
taking other steps to deal with the issue, which most agreed should
lead to a legal guest-worker program. While Democratic President
Barack Obama says great strides have been made in securing the
border, former Texas Governor Rick Perry begged to differ.
“It’s like a serious wound. You want to staunch the flow," said
Perry, whose state shares a long border with Mexico.
Even Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor who favors comprehensive
immigration reform, said limits should be placed on "chain
immigration," the ability of new U.S. citizens to bring in a variety
of their relatives from other countries.
Instead, he said, new immigrants should be brought in based on their
ability to help propel the U.S. economy into stronger growth.
Ahead of the forum, Bush on Monday released a six-point plan to
combat illegal immigration that includes offering 11 million
undocumented workers "a rigorous path to earned legal status."
The emphasis on immigration at the forum suggests Trump's impact on
the Republican field, and was a prelude to the candidates' first
official debate on Thursday in Cleveland, which Trump will attend.
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None of the candidates on Monday talked of deporting the 11 million
illegal immigrants in the United States, a recognition of
Republicans' desperate need to appeal to Latino voters who
overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates and who have Clinton's
pledge to seek citizenship for illegal immigrants if elected in
2016.
Trump, a New York real estate mogul who previously had flirted with
seeking the presidency but ultimately backed out, has shocked many
political professionals by soaring to the top of polls. Not one to
downplay his prospects, Trump made his impact felt when his campaign
sent out a blast email with the news that the billionaire leads a
new poll of Republican voters in New Hampshire, which in February
will hold the nation's first presidential primary contest, following
Iowa's caucuses.
The WMUR poll gave Trump 24 percent to 12 percent for Bush.
Even so, Trump's message against illegal immigration is resonating
in a negative way among some voters. A Telemundo/NBC News/Wall
Street Journal poll said 75 percent of Hispanics have a negative
view of Trump.
Did Trump miss an opportunity by not showing up in New Hampshire?
Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said it would have
helped Trump and two other no-show candidates, Mike Huckabee, a
former Arkansas governor, and Jim Gilmore, a former Virginia
governor, if they had been there.
"I would say they missed out on an opportunity to talk to a bunch of
voters who are interested in picking a president," he told reporters
after the event.
(Additional reporting by Jim Oliphant in Washington and Alana Wise
in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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