{"id":20083,"date":"2015-11-11T10:46:09","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T16:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=20083"},"modified":"2015-11-11T10:46:40","modified_gmt":"2015-11-11T16:46:40","slug":"gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Debate: Christie challenges Hillary, regains ground in undercard"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Morgan Gilbard<\/strong> and Enrica Nicoli-Aldini<\/strong><\/p>\n

MILWAUKEE \u2013 The Republican \u201cundercard\u201d debate on Tuesday featured candidates proposing a litany of traditionally conservative plans and ideals \u2013 repealing Obamacare, shrinking government, eliminating the Internal Revenue Service, and turning away Syrian refugees.<\/p>\n

But the candidate attacked by the others for his arguably less conservative record was the one who seemed to come out on top.<\/p>\n

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dodged attacks from his Republican opponents and focused his attention on striking at likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do not change course, if we follow the president\u2019s lead, we will be in a worse off position,\u201d Christie pointedly said of Clinton early in the evening.
\n<\/p>\n

Christie was joined onstage at the Milwaukee Theatre by former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Both Christie and Huckabee failed to hit the 2.5 percent threshold Fox Business Network required for joining the prime-time lineup.<\/p>\n

During a debate that focused largely on economic policy, the four candidates echoed conservative dreams of small government, lower taxes and a resurgence of American manufacturing. All candidates came together in calling for Obamacare\u2019s repeal, simplifying the tax code and, on the eve of Veteran\u2019s Day, an extensive reform of an antiquated Veterans Affairs system.<\/p>\n

The candidates repeatedly intertwined their conservative narrative with critiques of their Democratic opponents and the Obama Administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would think that there was a Republican in office with how much they complain about the economy,\u201d Santorum said.<\/p>\n

Jindal took the first intraparty punch, claiming that only he has actually reduced spending as governor of Louisiana. While Huckabee refuted the claims, Jindal\u2019s words carried some truth. Huckabee didn\u2019t cut spending as governor of Arkansas, but instead addressed the state\u2019s debt by increasing income, sin and sales taxes in the late \u201890s and early 2000s, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group.<\/p>\n

Christie stayed quiet during the exchange. Calling Christie a \u201cbig-government Republican,\u201d Jindal alluded to more liberal points of Christie\u2019s career. New Jersey\u2019s state budget increased by 15 percent between 2011 and 2015 under Christie\u2019s leadership, according to the CATO Institute, a conservative think-tank.<\/p>\n

Instead of rebutting Jindal\u2019s accusations, Christie directed his focus at Clinton, calling her the \u201creal adversary\u201d when it comes to cutting government spending. \u201cThe bottom line is that she\u2019s coming for your wallet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Questioned on taxes, the four candidates presented different plans. Santorum proposed a 20 percent flat tax on both individual and corporate income. Christie proposed a 28 percent tax rate on the highest income bracket, while Jindal proposed three income tax rates at 5, 10 and 25 percent, depending on income, so that \u201cevery American has skin in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huckabee defended his \u201cFair Tax\u201d flat tax plan as a way to \u201cnot punish Americans for their work.\u201d Huckabee also proposed the elimination of the IRS. \u201cHow much money we make is none of their business,\u201d he said, prompting a round of applause from the audience.<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/a>
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in the “Spin Room” at the GOP debate in Milwaukee. (Morgan Gilbard\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>Huckabee was the only candidate who addressed President Barack Obama\u2019s plan to open the country\u2019s doors to 10,000 refugees from Syria. Huckabee said that America\u2019s priority should be to let the economy grow again, and that the government should take care of Americans before helping others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no idea who these people are,\u201d he said. \u201cLet’s find out who they really are, and the ones that are really in danger, let’s help build an encampment for them, but closer to where they live, rather than bringing them here when they don’t know the language, the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huckabee spouted a few sound-bites that will serve him well over the next week. While the HuffPost Pollster places Huckabee ahead of his undercard opponents in the Iowa caucuses, polling this early in the primary season is often volatile.<\/p>\n

Christie\u2019s strong performance in the undercard debate was just a preview of things to come, according to his campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job is to peak in February–not September, October, November,\u201d said Mike Duhaime, a senior strategist for the Christie campaign.<\/p>\n

Duhaime said the campaign is not concerned about last month\u2019s Rutgers University poll, which found that 67 percent of New Jersey residents think Christie should drop out of the race. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t live poll-to-poll, week-to-week from Rutgers or any of these other polls,\u201d said Duhaime.<\/p>\n

Christie did not join his undercard opponents in the media \u201cspin room\u201d following the debate. There Jindal criticized Christie for his repeated references to Clinton throughout the debate.<\/p>\n

But the Louisiana Governor also had strong words about a potential Clinton victory. \u201cFour more years of these policies and we won\u2019t recognize America anymore,\u201d Jindal said in the spin room.<\/p>\n

Jindal and Santorum survived the evening without major gaffes or departures from their rhetoric. However, they remain unlikely to survive the primary. Among the undercard candidates, Christie possibly gained the most momentum throughout the evening–often demonstrating more charisma and appeal to moderate Republicans than Huckabee.<\/p>\n

He seemed to be already looking ahead to the general election as a war against Clinton that he plans to fight, invoking the same populist rhetoric that Clinton herself has been using.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe believes that she can make better decisions for you than you can make for yourself,\u201d Christie said. \u201cThe greatness of America is not in its government. It\u2019s in its people.\u201d<\/p>\n

PHOTO AT TOP: Chris Christie campaign strategist Mike Duhaime in the “Spin Room” of the GOP debate in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. (Raquel Zaldivar\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Morgan Gilbard and Enrica Nicoli-Aldini MILWAUKEE \u2013 The Republican \u201cundercard\u201d debate on Tuesday featured candidates proposing a litany of traditionally conservative plans and ideals \u2013 repealing Obamacare, shrinking government, eliminating the Internal Revenue Service, and turning away Syrian refugees. But the candidate attacked by the others for his arguably less conservative record was the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":20087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[321,509,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election2015","category-fall-2015","category-public-affairs"],"yoast_head":"\nGOP Debate: Christie challenges Hillary, regains ground in undercard - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GOP Debate: Christie challenges Hillary, regains ground in undercard - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Morgan Gilbard and Enrica Nicoli-Aldini MILWAUKEE \u2013 The Republican \u201cundercard\u201d debate on Tuesday featured candidates proposing a litany of traditionally conservative plans and ideals \u2013 repealing Obamacare, shrinking government, eliminating the Internal Revenue Service, and turning away Syrian refugees. But the candidate attacked by the others for his arguably less conservative record was the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-11T16:46:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-11T16:46:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Chris-Christies-campaign-strategist-Mike-Duhaime-in-the-spin-room.-Photo-by-Raquel-Zaldivar-1100.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"733\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Medill Reports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Medill Reports\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/\",\"name\":\"GOP Debate: Christie challenges Hillary, regains ground in undercard - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Chris-Christies-campaign-strategist-Mike-Duhaime-in-the-spin-room.-Photo-by-Raquel-Zaldivar-1100.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-11T16:46:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-11T16:46:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/361a54e0239da0f186de02c176ed8f20\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Chris-Christies-campaign-strategist-Mike-Duhaime-in-the-spin-room.-Photo-by-Raquel-Zaldivar-1100.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Chris-Christies-campaign-strategist-Mike-Duhaime-in-the-spin-room.-Photo-by-Raquel-Zaldivar-1100.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":733,\"caption\":\"Chris Christie's campaign strategist Mike Duhaime in the spin room. Photo by Raquel Zaldivar\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"GOP Debate: Christie challenges Hillary, regains ground in undercard\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/361a54e0239da0f186de02c176ed8f20\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc03a3070f2eff7af96bc38a8333cfe5f83bae5944b21bb728fe3431b810c3fd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc03a3070f2eff7af96bc38a8333cfe5f83bae5944b21bb728fe3431b810c3fd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Medill Reports\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/medillnewsservice\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"GOP Debate: Christie challenges Hillary, regains ground in undercard - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"GOP Debate: Christie challenges Hillary, regains ground in undercard - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Morgan Gilbard and Enrica Nicoli-Aldini MILWAUKEE \u2013 The Republican \u201cundercard\u201d debate on Tuesday featured candidates proposing a litany of traditionally conservative plans and ideals \u2013 repealing Obamacare, shrinking government, eliminating the Internal Revenue Service, and turning away Syrian refugees. But the candidate attacked by the others for his arguably less conservative record was the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2015-11-11T16:46:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-11-11T16:46:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":733,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Chris-Christies-campaign-strategist-Mike-Duhaime-in-the-spin-room.-Photo-by-Raquel-Zaldivar-1100.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Medill Reports","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Medill Reports","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/","name":"GOP Debate: Christie challenges Hillary, regains ground in undercard - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Chris-Christies-campaign-strategist-Mike-Duhaime-in-the-spin-room.-Photo-by-Raquel-Zaldivar-1100.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-11T16:46:09+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-11T16:46:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/361a54e0239da0f186de02c176ed8f20"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Chris-Christies-campaign-strategist-Mike-Duhaime-in-the-spin-room.-Photo-by-Raquel-Zaldivar-1100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Chris-Christies-campaign-strategist-Mike-Duhaime-in-the-spin-room.-Photo-by-Raquel-Zaldivar-1100.jpg","width":1100,"height":733,"caption":"Chris Christie's campaign strategist Mike Duhaime in the spin room. Photo by Raquel Zaldivar"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-christie-challenges-hillary-regains-ground-in-undercard\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"GOP Debate: Christie challenges Hillary, regains ground in undercard"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/361a54e0239da0f186de02c176ed8f20","name":"Medill Reports","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc03a3070f2eff7af96bc38a8333cfe5f83bae5944b21bb728fe3431b810c3fd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc03a3070f2eff7af96bc38a8333cfe5f83bae5944b21bb728fe3431b810c3fd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Medill Reports"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/medillnewsservice\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}