The lesser of two evils

[UWS]

Election Night 2016

On November 8 2016, we are witnessing the progression of the results for the 2016 U.S. Presidential election between Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, and Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. Mostly because of Trump's promise to deport illegal immigrants and to build a wall on the US-Mexican borders, the majority of Hispanic voters supported Clinton. By selecting Minnesota Senator Al Franken as her running mate, Clinton managed to seduce Bernie Sanders' supportes and reunited the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton defeats Donald Trump with 358 Great Electors, 28 states (including Arizona, the first time since 1996) and 52,4 % of the popular vote against 180 Great Electors, 22 states and 45,8 % of the popular vote for Trump.

Hillary Clinton/Al Franken (D) : 358 Great Electors, 28 states and 52,4 % of the popular vote
Donald Trump/Newt Gingrich (R) : 180 Great Electors, 22 states and 45,8 % of the popular vote

Despite Clinton's victory, the Republican Party keeps the majority in the House of the Representatives (234 Republican seats and 201 Democratic seats) and, narrowly, in the Senate (51 Republican seats and 49 Democratic seats). It managed to keep Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. So it might not be easy for Clinton to pass her policies and get things done.

[UWS]

Timeline under Hillary Clinton's presidency (2017)

• January 20, 2017 : Hillary Clinton becomes the 45th President of the United States of America while Al Franken becomes her vice-president.
• February 11, 2017 : While controlled by the Republicans, the Congress passed an immigration reform bill orchestrated by President Clinton. After Donald Trump lost very badly last November, the GOP learned lessons from 2016 and decides to approve this bill in order to reinforce America's reputation as the land of opportunity and to seduce more minority votes in the future. This bill gives U.S. citizenship for illegal immigrants and, in long term, created more jobs.
• February 25, 2017 : Equal Pay Act that would increase minimum wage from 7,25 $ to 12 $ fails to pass the Congress. So President Clinton had to make concessions by raising the minimum wage to only 10 $, which angers many pure progressists who wanted it at 15 $.
• March 16, 2017 : Hillary Clinton's American Lives bill, which would increase gun control, is blocked by the Congress controlled by the Republicans.
• May 30, 2017 : President Clinton reiterates her opposition to Keystone XL pipeline.
• June 8, 2017 : President Hillary Clinton decides to arm the Syrian rebellion to help it fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Assad regime. In addition, the United States send a few military experts to train the rebels, which helped them to fight their ennemies, but their cause makes slow progress. The United Nations agree to put in place a no-fly zone in Syria in order to increase their airstrikes against ISIS.
• August 16, 2017 : Clinton's decision to increase taxes in a higher rate than under Obama's presidency is proven to be unpopular. It decreases the Americans' purchasing power and contributes to US companies offshoring, which led to an increase of the unemployment rate to 5,7 %.
• September 2017 : Los Angeles is elected host city for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games over Paris and Rome.
• October 28, 2017 : President Clinton withdraws the remaining US troops from Afghanistan. Only military experts stayed there to advise the Afghan troops in the developpment of their strategies against Al-Qaida and the Taliban. A month later, this decision is proven to be unpopular because it allowed the Taliban to emerge. We are witnessing a dicrease of Afghanistan's stability.

President Clinton's job approval rating December 2017

• Approve : 45 %
• Disapprove : 51 %
• Not sure : 4 %

[UWS]

Timeline under Hillary Clinton's presidency (2018)

• January 25, 2018 : President Hillary Clinton's State of the Union
• February 19, 2018 : President Clinton increases subsidies for industries investing in the developpment of renewable energies. Many Republicans estimate that it's not the right time for it. In their mind, the United States need to reinforce their energy indpenendence and their status as the world's first oil producer (before Saudi Arabia) before investing in alternative energies.
• March 2018 : Russian President Vladimir Putin is reelected by a landslide with 75 % of the vote with the promise of a stronger Russia. As expected, these results were contested on the Russian soil and across the world.
• March 21, 2018 : During a trip in Jerusalem, Hillary Clinton and Benyamin Netanyahou reinforced US-Israeli relations.
• April 10, 2018 : The Taliban took the Afghan city of Khost. A great part of the world's public opinion worries about the possibility that the Pakistani Taliban might take power by the force, which would put Pakistani nuclear weapons in their hands. Such a scenario would be very catastrophic. Many of the Americans condemned Clinton's «lack of leadership and judgement».
• May 21-24, 2018 : During the NATO summit in Berlin, Germany, NATO members agreed to give Iraqi Kurds military training and to increase their airstrikes in Iraq to eradicate ISIS from this country.
• May 30, 2018 : The 2018 Venezuelan Presidential election shows Nicolas Maduro's high unpopularity due to an economic crisis and violations of human rights. So the Venezuelan people was willing for change and decided to embrace free enterprise in order to get their country back on track. So Henrique Capriles Radonski leads Maduro in most of the polls. Radonski defeats Maduro with 60 % of the vote against only 36 % for Maduro. President Clinton claims that these results are good news for democracy and relations between the United States and Venezuela.
• June 29, 2018 : While Raul Castro leaves the power, it doesn't guarantee free elections in Cuba. In fact, his vice-president Miguel Diaz-Canel is elected president of Cuba with 76 % of the vote. These results are contested and cause protests in the streets across Cuba which a great part of it's people wants the implementation of a democratic regime.
• August 2018 : Due to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's unpopularity (with his policies, which some are considered to be oppressive) and the weakness of the Egyptian economy (with an unemployment rate elevated at 15 %), ISIS emerged in Egypt. Terrorist attacks by ISIS on the Egyptian soil increased. In addition of killing innocent people, ISIS in Egypt attacks energy infrastructure, which weakens Egyptian economy. The Northwest of the country is under ISIS control.
• September 11, 2018 : ISIS in attacks the U.S. embassy in Cairo and kills 9 American diplomats. Once again, more and more people doubt about Clinton's leadership just like in 2012 during Benghazi attacks.
• September 18, 2018 :  Due to ISIS terrorist attacks in Egypt, the decrease of oil prices and the regulations on oil companies led to a third oil crisis, which slows economic growth.
• October 2018 : Vladimir Putin reorganizes Russia into the Second USSR. Putin projects to make the Russian army the most powerful army in the world by 2024. Putin's Russia sends military troops in Georgia in order to invade this country, annex South Ossetia and open a bridge between Russia and Turkey to lead raids against Ankara when Putin estimates it will be necessary. In adition, Putin considers invading eastern Turkey in order to build a pipeline from Russia to Syria. He increases airstrikes against the Syrian rebels to protect the Assad regime, which angers the Western powers. Russia also secretly sends military experts in Ukraine to train and arm pro-russian rebels, which helps them to lead more attacks against Ukrainian troops and Ukrainian energy infrastructure. So Western sanctions against the new USSR increased considerably.
• October 13, 2018 : ISIS is eradicated in Iraq. Mossul is taken by the Iraqi army and the Kurds and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of ISIS, is killed by a US airstrike. Baghdadi's death weakened ISIS and this announcement is received joyfully around the world. but war with ISIS is not over yet.
• October 19, 2018 : Hillary Clinton is indicted into a scandal : during the 2016 presidential campaign, she apparently received funds from Chineese contributors who feared a Trump victory in 2016, which would have caused a trade war between Washington and Beijing.
• October 21, 2018 : The medias announce that the United States are getting deeper into a recession. This recession is due to an unsufficient increase of the minimum wage, to baby-boomers' retirement, to tax increases since 2017 (which led to the weakening of Americans' purchasing power and to the offshoring of some U.S. companies), to the increase of regulations (including on oil companies), to the Third Oil Crisis, to the increase of inflation, to the increase of the national debt elevated at over 20 billion $, to the stock market crisis in China and to Canada's economic decline. The unemployement rate is elevated at 7,2 % and GDP growth moves into a pace of nearly 0 %. On foreign policy, Clinton is criticized for her «lack of leadership» against then ISIS' rise in Egypt, the reemergence of the terrorist threat in the Indian Sub-Continent (particularily Afghanistan) and the emergence of the imperial policies of the Second USSR.
• November 6, 2018 : Due in great part to Clinton's increasing unpopularity, the Republican Party wins the 2018 midterm elections, reinforcing it's majority in both chambers of the Congress. In the Senate, the GOP wins, as expected, the Senate seats in Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota and Montana, but also wins the Senate seats in Florida (Carlos Lopez-Cantera defeating Bill Nelson), Virginia (Eric Cantor defeating Tim Kaine), Maine (Paul LePage defeating Angus King), Massachusetts (Tagg Romney defeating narrowly Elizabeth Warren), Ohio (John Kasich defeating Sherrod Brown), Michigan (Justin Amash defeating Debbie Stabenow), Wisconsin (Sean Duffy defeating Tammy Baldwin) and New Mexico (Susana Martinez defeating Martin Heinrich). So the Republicans gained a supermajority with 63 seats against only 37 for the Democrats. In the House of the Representatives, they carried  244 seats against 191 for the Democrats.

President Clinton's job approval rating December 2018

• Approve : 44 %
• Disapprove : 55 %
• Not sure : 1 %

[UWS]

Timeline under Hillary Clinton's presidency (2019)

• January 14, 2019 : President Clinton's second State of the Union speech
• February 25, 2019 : due to the terrible economic situation, President Clinton decides to cut defense spending. The Republicans criticize this decision, claiming that it will weaken America and it's allies and encourage America's foes.
• March 30, 2019 : Terrorist attack in Rome, Italy, orchestrated by ISIS. 28 people are killed, including the 3 jihadists, while 40 are injured. These attacks led to solidarity campaigns with the slogan « Je suis Rome! » (I am Rome!).
• April 17, 2019 : In an attempt to end US military presence in the Pacific and pursue the developpment of North Korea's nuclear program, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un funds Filipino jihadist group Abu Sayyaf to make terrorist attacks in Hawaï. A group of 5 terrorists from Abu Sayyaf killed 10 marines in Pearl Harbor before being killed by the U.S. Army. This attack demonstrates the necessity of reinforcing the U.S. military presence in Pacific Ocean and fight terrorism.
• June 4, 2019 : Russian invasion of eastern Turkey brings Turkey and the Turkish Kurds together against a common enemy (Russia) and form a military coalition to impose resistance to the Russian troops.
• August 1, 2019 : The unemployment rate increased at 7,5 %

President Clinton's job approval rating September 2019

• Approve : 42 %
• Disapprove : 58 %

[UWS]

2020 Republican Nomination Poll - January 2019

• Marco Rubio : 22 %
• Paul Ryan : 18 %
• Ted Cruz : 16 %
• Tom Cotton : 11 %
• John Kasich : 10 %
• Mike Pence : 7 %
• Scott Brown : 6 %
• Chris Christie : 5 %
• Bruce Rauner : 4 %
• Rand Paul : 4 %

[UWS]

Republican Presidential candidates

Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio had been preparing a second presidential run in 2020 ever since the 2016 election. During the final months of his first term in the Senate, he contributed to the approval of acts like the funding to fight Zika, a bipartisan legislation reinforcing defence ties with India. After the Orlando terrorist shooting of June 12 2016, Senator Rubio changed his mind and decided to run for re-election in the U.S. Senate. He easily won the Republican nomination and is re-elected on November 8th 2016 with 54 % of the vote over Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy who received 40 % of the vote. So Rubio is among some incumbent Republican senators, alongside John McCain (Arizona), Rob Portman (Ohio), Richard Burr (North Carolina) and Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) which their re-election resulted to a Republican victory in the Senate race. It helped him to reconnect with the voters while keeping the Senate majority for the Republicans and fundraise money that will be possibly used for a 2020 presidential run.

During his second term in the Senate, supported the approval of the 2017 Comprehensive immigration reform and the arming of the Syrian rebellion. He criticized President Clinton's decision to raise taxes and regulations and her « lack of leadership » against ISIS (which emerged in Egypt), the Assad regime, North Korea and the Second USSR. Rubio claimed that the emergence of terrorism clearly demonstrates the urgence to deploy more ground troops and increase the Defense spending to make sure that America will be able to defeat it's foes. Senator Rubio approved the military force use against ISIS in Libya as well as the military training given to the Kurds by US military experts to help them fighting ISIS. While denouncing the outrageous results of the 2018 Cuban elections, he estimates that Henrique Capriles Radonski's electoral victory in Venezuela represents a new opportunity for the United States and Latin America to improve the US-Venezuela relations and to promote free trade with Latin America. Rubio campaigned and fundraised heavily for Republican candidates in the 2018 midterm elections, a great success resulting to a Republican supermajority.

Due to his political record, his foreign policy experience and his Cuban ancestry, Marco Rubio is a favorite to win the nomination. Since Donald Trump won only 20 % of the latino vote in 2016, Rubio is seen as the candidate most likely to perform very well among Hispanics. In fact, according to a recent poll, he would win 42 % of the Hispanic vote against He appears to take the advantage of the GOP's tendency to nominate candidates that ran for President before. In January 24, 2019, he announces the formation of an exploratory committee to prepare a 2020 presidential run.

Paul Ryan

After being the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee in 2012, Speaker of the House of the Representatives Paul Ryan is getting ready to move to the top of the ticket. From 2017 to today, he criticized President Clinton's big government policies and her economic failures. He paints himself as the best candidate to restore economic growth with his fiscal experience and the fact he was the running mate of Mitt Romney, one of the greatest job creators. He competes with Marco Rubio for the GOP establishment support. But like all the other candidates, Speaker Ryan has his challenges : he was the running mate of a losing presidential candidate and almost no losing running mate has ever won the presidency. In addition, some hard core conservatives didn't appreciate the compromises that Speaker Ryan did with the Democrats.

Ted Cruz

Runner-up of the 2016 GOP primaries, Ted Cruz also thinks about running in 2020. He keeps his radical Tea Party insurgent style against Clinton's policies. He successfully ran for reelection as Texas Senator. His greatest challenge is to distance himself from Donald Trump since many Americans consider him as worse than Trump. After Trump's crushing defeat to Clinton in 2016, the Republicans are not ready to get the wrong track a second time.

Tom Cotton

Republican Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton also received speculation to run for President in 2020, though his Senate seat will have to defended this year. During his term, he demonstrated his foreign policy skills and used them to denounce President Clinton's « weak leadership on foreign policy ». He got some problems : in 2016, Donald Trump won Arkansas by only 8 points, one of the worst scores for a Republican in Arkansas since a long time. This was due to Trump's unpopularity and to the Clinton family's influence in Arkansas (Bill Clinton was born there and was this state's governor before becoming President). So Clinton's surge in Arkansas in 2016 led to a Democratic majority in the Arkansas General Assembly. So the Democrats killed the law that allowed Cotton to run for President and for reelection in the Senate at the same time in 2020. He may have to choose only one of these options.

John Kasich

The Ohio Senator is seen as one of the most experienced potential GOP candidates. Some right-wingers might not like his centrist views while some traditional Republicans might not appreciate the fact that he stayed in the 2016 race for too long, which, in their mind, helped Trump winning the nomination in 2016.

Mike Pence

The Indiana governor explores the possibility of running for the Republican nomination while arguing that the GOP lost three consecutive times because it nominated moderate candidates (which, according to Pence, didn't please the right wingers).

Scott Brown

Scott Brown uses his foreign policy experience and his military career as qualifications to run for President. But his moderate positions could hurt him along with his early endorsement to Donald Trump in the beginning of the 2016 primaries.

Chris Christie

While former New Jersey governor Chris Christie considers running again, his moderate views could hurt him among the right wingers of the GOP as well as his implication in the Bridgegate and his personality too close to Trump's.

Bruce Rauner

Though his moderate views could not be well received among the Republican base, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner uses his past as businessman as a qualification to be a perfect job creator president.

Rand Paul

Despite his name recognition, Paul's isolationist message has a very small chance of passing during this time of geopolitical crisis.

[UWS]

Announcements

March 24, 2019 :

Indiana Governor Mike Pence

« I announce my candidacy for the Presidency of the United States. We need a conservative voice to unite our party together and I have the right experience to do so. »

April 2, 2019 :

Kentucky Senator and 2016 Presidential candidate Rand Paul

« In this time of crisis and international disaster, time has come to promote liberty and small government. That's why I'm running for President. »

April 30, 2019 :

Florida Senator and 2016 Presidential candidate Marco Rubio

« Sixty years ago, Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, the land of my ancestors. But many ran from Castro's tyranny and anti-free market threat to get residence here in America in order to accomplish their dreams. As son of immigrants, I lived the American Dream. Since three years now, Hillary Clinton, a leader from yesterday, has weakened our economy by taxing people more, regulating more, spending more, making us more dependent from foreign oil and increasing the debt to over 20 billion $. We need free market policies to get our economy back on track by embracing energy revolution (which requires more oil production and energy independence), free trade, school choice, business championing and tax cuts for all Americans. Since three years now, President Clinton showed weakness in fighting terrorism and Russia's imperialist actions. The world is more danger than ever before. I have the right foreign policy experience : under my leadership, we will increase defense spending, fight terrorism around the world and strengthen our strategic alliances. All this kind of agenda requires an expansion of our party. We need to attract Hispanic votes, African American votes, Asian American votes to show that the Republican Party is the party for all Americans. As son of immigrants, I am the best qualified to do it. That way, we can win the White House, beat Hillary Clinton and lead America to prosperity and security. For this reason, in order to serve our country, I'm running for President of the United States of America and we need this kind of leadership right here, right now! »

May 6, 2019 :

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton

« Without the support of the Arkansas General Assembly for a potential candidacy, I decided to run for reelection in the Senate. I don't want my party to get our party in deeper division in this time of recession and war. Don't worry, my time will come one day. While I'm stepping aside for now, I give my support to Senator Marco Rubio. Marco is the only candidate who can beat Hillary Clinton, defeat Islamic terrorism, destroy Vladimir Putin's ambitions and successfully fight for liberty. So in the next 8 years, our ennemies will fear us and our allies will trust us more than ever before with the reinforcement of our alliances. In the next six years, in my second term as Senator, I'm ready to work with Marco Rubio, the next President of the United States. »

May 15, 2019 :

Speaker of the House of the Representatives and 2012 Vice-Presidential nominee Paul Ryan

« I am here to tell you that I'm a candidate for President. Since more than 20 years, I balanced the budget. In 2012, I ran as the running mate of Mitt Romney, one of the greatest job creators that this country has ever known. I understand the economy and I'm the best qualified to get this economy back on track. I know what it takes to create jobs and balance the budget. This is a great project for America and I hope you will help me to accomplish it. »

May 23, 2019 :

Texas Senator and 2016 Presidential candidate Ted Cruz

« After 12 years of disasters orchestrated by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, god has decided that now time has come for change and we don't bring change by electing the same guys in office. This kind of change requires a conservative voice, a strong voice. I announce my presidential candidacy for that. »

June 6, 2019 :

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner

« In the private sector, I created jobs and my ready to create more jobs as President of the United States. I'm running for President to bring us this path to prosperity. »

June 11, 2019 :

Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown

« As a soldier in the U.S. Army, I fought with honor for our country abroad. I understand our international and geopolitical challenges. I am ready to be commander-in-chief so I'm running for President of the United States. »

June 22, 2019 :

Ohio Senator John Kasich and 2016 Presidential candidate

« With 40 years of political experience, I'm clearly ready to lead this country. I'm running for President because of my skills in foreign policy and fiscal issues. We will beat Hillary Clinton, including in some blue states, thus expanding our party's base. »

June 30, 2019 :

Former New Jersey Governor and 2016 Presidential candidate Chris Christie

« We need an outsider with leadership. I'm running for the Presidency of the United States. »

[UWS]

First Republican Presidential primary debate, August 8th 2019, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

Participants : Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Scott Brown, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Bruce Rauner and Chris Christie.

Moderators : Chris Wallace, Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier

Economic issues

-Marco Rubio : « The best way to save the automobile industry, a great pilar of our economy, is to fight the terrible effects of the third oil crisis and to increase oil production by doubling the number of oil wells, building more pipelines in this country, approving Keystone XL pipeline and exploring ANWR. That way we will be much more independent from foreign oil than we were ever before. It will allow us to build more cars, to reduce our cars' prices that will be lower than Asian cars to boost purchasing power of the American people and more American cars will be bought and we will have the upper hand in the Trans-Pacific Partnership that I will ratify as President. That's how I will boost our automotive industry. »

-Paul Ryan : « Marco is right, oil is the source of the strength of our automotive industry. Another reason why our economy is declining and the unemployment rate had increased is the intrusion of government that made taxes higher, which reinforced the offshoring of some of our companies. So we need to reduce taxes if we want our business to produce more, hire more, expand more. I know how to get this economy growing again, I spent 20 years in handling the budget and I ran alongside Mitt Romney, a son of Michigan who has the automobile industry in his blood veins. »

-John Kasich : « When I was governor of Ohio, we have diversed this state's economy. During the second oil crisis in 1979, Japan was able to recover by boosting electric automotive industry. So what we need to do is to develop alternative energies. »

Russia

-Marco Rubio : « Russia is directed by a gangster who is definitely violating territorial integrity of it's neighbours to defend it's own interests. Putin is arming a pro-russian rebellion in Ukraine, which gives them the advantage against Ukrainian troops. So Ukraine needs a counterbalance. For this, we must arm the Ukrainian troops who will have the military advantage with American weapons. Russia is bombarding the Syrian rebellion instead of ISIS, which is slowing our fight against ISIS and represents a threat to the hope of democratic transition in this country. We need boots on the ground to fight ISIS and overthrow the Assad regime. With our powerful military and artillery, we can clearly defeat ISIS and Assad and Putin's attempt to defend this regime militarily will be in vain. Russia is invading Eastern Turkey to build a pipeline from Russia to Syria. I believe it will improve relations between Ankara and the Kurds, because they started fighting together against Russia. It's another reason why we must arm the Kurds and train them militarily to help them fighting ISIS and Russia successfully. »

-Paul Ryan : « Seven years ago, it was already clear that Russia is challenging us. If we had armed the Syrian rebels early and launch a military intervention in Syria early, this country would have already got rid of Assad and would have been peaceful. But because of Barack Obama's lack of leadership, this civil war got longer, more catastrophic and more deadly. I will correct those mistakes. »

-John Kasich : « When I was elected in the House of the Representatives, Cold War was at its paroxysm. I was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. So I know how to confront Putin's Russia. »

-Ted Cruz : « We have to take the lessons of the past. In Libya, we toppled Gaddafi and this country's situation is worse. If such a scenario happened in Libya, why not Syria? Marco wants to send ground troops in Syria to topple Assad. I know that Assad is bad, but toppling him will give Syria to ISIS. »

-Marco Rubio : « First of all Ted, you know very well that toppling Assad is not the only goal of such a military intervention. It has also the goal of eradicating ISIS. Second of all, toppling Assad will not give Syria to ISIS, it will give it to the Syrian people who will leave peacufully and freely in a democratic and prosperous country and I refuse to give Syria to Russia by keeping Assad in power. »

Lessons of the 2016 election

-Marco Rubio : « Three years ago, the Republican Party had made one of it's worst electoral performances. Donald Trump's agenda failed to attract Hispanic voters, female voters, young voters and all other ethnic minority voters, which led Hillary Clinton to victory and allowed another four years of depression and weakness. Today, Hispanic voters represent over 15 % of the electorate and all Millenials will be eligible to vote. On this stage, I'm greatest defender of the American Dream and a great supporter of innovation and modernization. We need to be an inclusive party, a party for all Americans. I take the pledge of being President of the United States for all Americans whether or not they will vote for me. That's why I supported the 2017 Comprehensive immigration reform like 15 other Republican senators because it allows these people live better lives on the land of opportunity and the American Dream to be restored. In this time of crisis, young people are struggling to find a job. We need to embrace school choice to give young people more opportunities and help them to find a job. That way, the Republican Party will be able to attract minorities and young people. »

-Paul Ryan : « The results of the 2016 election are worse than the 2012 election for our party. Young people, Hispanics and women did not vote for us because we were not open enough to them. If we don't open our party's doors to them, we will lose again. We need an optimistic agenda for them. I lived defeat alongside Mitt Romney in 2012 and I learned lessons to this defeat so I believe I can win this time against Hillary Clinton. »

-Ted Cruz : « We lost in 2016 because Donald Trump was not a real conservative. He supported Planned Parenthood, gun control an gave donations to many Democratic politicians, including Hillary Clinton, wich did not excite many conservatives who stayed home instead of voting. That's why Donald Trump suffered the same fate as John McCain and Mitt Romney. If I won the nomination four years ago, we would not be here today. I could have won the nomination if Marco was my running mate, which would have brought conservatives together. Because he didn't join me, Donald Trump had the momentum and won the nomination, leading us to defeat and giving us Hillary Clinton. »

-Marco Rubio : « Ted got it wrong again. Carly Fiorina, your ephemeral running mate, was a terrific running mate for your campaign. She ran a business, understands the economy, knows how to create jobs and made the best electoral performance in California since 20 years for a Republican during her 2010 run for California senator. She would have helped you winning Indiana and California, which would have stopped Donald Trump from winning the 1237 delegates needed to win the nomination four years ago. But you lost the 2016 primaries because you insulted the New York values. That's why Trump beat you by a landslide in the New York state after a debacle in Wisconsin and Colorado. Trump's large victory in New York gave him enough momentum to sweep all the next states. If you didn't insult the New Yorkers and their values, I'm sure you could have won states like Pennsylvania or Maryland. That way, we would not have been here right now. So if there's anyone to be faulted for Trump's nomination, it's you, not me. You screwed up your own campaign! »

Winners of the debate : Rubio (22,7 %), Kasich (12,8 %), Ryan (11,2 %), Cruz (10,6 %), Christie (8,8 %), Paul (8,6 %), Rauner (8,6 %), Brown (8,4 %), Pence (8,2 %).

[UWS]

Second Republican Presidential primary debate, September 10th 2019, Des Moines, Iowa.

Participants : Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Scott Brown, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Bruce Rauner and Chris Christie.

Moderator : Anderson Cooper

Religion

-Marco Rubio : « Freedom of religion is threatened around the world. In the Middle East, jihadists from ISIS are beheading christians and they are trying to impose islam by violence. And by promoting violence, ISIS is not respecting Islam's rules. That's why I fought for freedom of religion by legislating a bill on this matter in the Senate. And I will keep fighting for freedom of religion as your president by sending troops in the Middle East to protect your coreligionists if necessary. Freedom of religion is a basic element of our democracy because it's included in the
First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America alongside with freedom of speech and I take the pledge to defend these values. »

-Paul Ryan : « I'm proud to be a christian and I'm proud that we are a country of different races, different religions and different beliefs. We have to respect them all. So we need to give back faith and trust in our government and our country. »

Abortion

-Marco Rubio : « Abortion is never good. Everybody, whether or not they are yet eligible to vote, has the right to live. And like I said, if we tolerate abortion, future generations are likely to look back at this history of our country and call us barbarians for murdering millions of babies who we never gave them a chance to live. This is not only a social issue, it's also an economic issue. One of the main reason why the The Glorious Thirty (1945-1972) were so prosperous was the great number of young baby boomers who were available to find a job and work. Today, it's exactly the opposite : many baby boomers are going to retirement, which hurts our workforce and slows our GDP. So if we want longer term economic growth and prosperity, we need to fight abortion in order to let future generations live and make sure that our workforce will get stronger and stronger, making our economy growing again. »

-Paul Ryan : « God would be ashame of us if we keep killing those unborn babies. As a christian, I will never tolerate this except for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Our faith informs us in everything we do. My faith informs me about how to take care of the vulnerable, about how to make sure that people have a chance of life. I believe that life begins at conception. Those are the reasons why I’m pro-life. »

Egypt

-Rubio : « Just like Jimmy Carter did in 1979 and just like Hillary Clinton herself did in 2012, she showed weakness in foreign policy and attacks against one of our embassies, like the one in Cairo, demonstrated this weakness. Now ISIS rised in Egypt because the Egyptian people lost faith and hope. Their government adopted repressive policies and many Egyptians are living in poverty so they are ready to do anything to take back their future, including violence. But violence is not the way to improve someone's life. If we kept some troops in Libya after Gaddafi's fall in order to train the new Libyan army and rebuild this country just like we did in Afghanistan and Iraq, North Africa and the Middle East would have been safer today. As president, I will consider establishing a no-fly zone to fight islamic terrorism in Egypt and call our allies, including Egypt's neighbours, to join us in this fight. »

Indian Sub-Continent

-Marco Rubio : « We need to create an association between nations included in the Indian Sub-Continent (India, Pakistan and Afghanistan). President Clinton withdrawed our troops from Afghanistan at the wrong time, thus allowing a growing terrorist threat in the Indian Sub-Continent. After all, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have common goals and common ennemies. Afghanistan, Pakistan and India suffered terrorist attacks and are fighting terrorism. But since many many years, India and Pakistan are facing high diplomatic tensions on religious and territorial matters. But they both successfully fought for their liberty and defeated british colonial oppression seventy years ago. So these two countries are, in some ways, brothers and they need to work together to fight and eradicate islamic terrorism and make sure that Pakistani nuclear weapons don't fall in the hands of terrorists. In addition, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, just like us are worried about the possibility of Iran getting a nuclear bomb. Support for the Iranian military nuclear among the Iranian public opinion is still strong. So we need to create this intergovernmental military alliance in the Indian Sub-Continent to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. »

-Brown : « Iran is violating the so-called nuclear deal ratified in 2015. With lifting of diplomatic and economic sanctions, Iran is using capital gains to keep developping it's nuclear military arsenal or funding Hezbollah. So we need to re-establish these sanctions to block capitals from falling in the hands of the the Iranian government. Senator Rubio is right, we must not rule out any option to make this region safe again, including military intervention in Iran and strengthening our relations and partnerships with Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to accentuate pression on Iran. Like it is always said : if you want peace then prepare for war. »

Economic issues

-Rubio : « Economic growth also requires innovation. I'm a champion of innovation and that's why the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)  named me the Innovation Policy Ninja. The economy we live in today is dramatically different from the one we had ten years ago. It’s an economy that now has placed us in global competition with dozens of other countries around the world. Now, the big companies that have connections with Washington, they can affect policies to help them, but the small companies are the ones that are struggling. We need to reduce regulations and cut taxes on all U.S. businesses, big and small, and give them tax credits to strengthen their capacity of hiring, producing and innovating. Reducing taxes on businessses will stop our companies' off-shoring and will ensure the creation of good-paying jobs. We don't grow the economy by making rich people poorer but by making poor people richer. »

-Ryan : « I spent twenty years of balancig budget. If there's a candidate for president you can trust in balancing the budget, it's me. My plan is to strengthen our energy independence, which will boost the consumption of American vehicles and strengthen the purchasing power of our fellow citizen who are struggling to fulfill their fuelling needs. I plan to champion free trade in this world of competition and champion small business, which creates most of the jobs in this country. »

-Cruz : « Free trade is good, but we need to be careful. By promoting fair trade, we will bring manufacturing jobs back home, thus giving strength to our workforce. »

-Rauner : « I ran GTCR and I know how jobs are created or go away. GTCR invests primarily through consolidations of specific industries, which ensures the creation of good-paying jobs. That's what I will do as president. »

Winners of the debate : Rubio (20,2 %), Kasich (12,5 %), Cruz (11,8 %), Ryan (11,2 %), Brown (10,5 %), Pence (9,9 %), Rauner (8 %), Christie (8 %), Paul (7,7 %).

[UWS]

October 8th 2019

Chris Christie drops out of the race

Due to low national poll standing and to revelations of ties with the mafia, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie decided to end his campaign.

[UWS]

2020 Republican Nomination Poll - October 2019

• Marco Rubio : 26 %
• Paul Ryan : 20 %
• Ted Cruz : 14 %
• John Kasich : 13 %
• Mike Pence : 12 %
• Scott Brown : 9 %
• Rand Paul : 4 %
• Bruce Rauner : 2 %

Match-ups

• Marco Rubio (R) : 46 %
• Hillary Clinton (D) : 40 %
• Undecided : 14 %

• Paul Ryan (R) : 43 %
• Hillary Clinton (D) : 41 %
• Undecided : 16 %

• Hillary Clinton (D) : 47 %
• Ted Cruz (R) : 38 %
• Undecided : 15 %

• John Kasich (R) : 48 %
• Hillary Clinton (D) : 41 %
• Undecided : 11 %

• Hillary Clinton (D) : 47 %
• Mike Pence (R) : 41 %
• Undecided : 12 %

• Scott Brown (R) : 42 %
• Hillary Clinton (D) : 42 %
• Undecided : 16 %

• Rand Paul (R) : 43 %
• Hillary Clinton (D) : 42 %
• Undecided : 15 %

• Hillary Clinton (D) : 45 %
• Bruce Rauner (R) : 42 %
• Undecided : 15 %

President Clinton's job approval

• Approve : 39 %
• Disapprove : 58 %
• Undecided : 3 %

[UWS]

Notable endorsements for the Republican presidential primaries, 2020

Marco Rubio

• Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
• Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
• Former Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval
• Former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
• Florida Governor Pam Bondi
• Former Florida Senator Mel Martinez
• Florida Senator Carlos Lopez-Cantera
• New Mexico Senator Susana Martinez
• South Carolina Senator Tim Scott
• Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton
• Utah Senator Mia Love
• Congressman from Florida Tom Rooney

Paul Ryan

• Former Massachusetts Governor and 2012 Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney
• Massachusetts Senator Tagg Romney
• Wisconsin Scott Walker

Ted Cruz

• Former Texas Governor Rick Perry
• Former Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican Vice-Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin

John Kasich

• Ohio Senator Rob Portman

Rand Paul

• Former Congressman Ron Paul
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
  

[/list]

[UWS]

Fourth Republican Presidential primary debate, October 29th 2019, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California.

Participants : Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Scott Brown, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Rand Paul and Bruce Rauner.

Moderator : John King

Why would Ronald Reagan support you if he was alive today?

-Rubio : « I'm a child of the Reagan revolution. In 1980, with my grandfather, I watched my first Republican convention and this one nominated Ronald Reagan, one of the greatest conservatives of all time who, as President of the United States, kept us safe, made our country prosperous and won the Cold War over the First USSR in the name of freedom and democracy. Since this convention, I became a greater and greater admirer of Ronald Reagan. Now we live in a similar situation before Ronald Reagan's presidency : economic crisis and dangerous world combining together. We need to cut taxes to strengthen our companies and our middle-class, promote free trade to make our country competitive again and create more jobs by getting more consumers, embrace energy independence by promoting oil production and alternative energies' production to make sure our country remains the world's greatest energy producer and balance budget. We also need to increase defense spending to defend our allies and defeat our ennemies. To accomplish that goal, we must also reinforce our geopolitical alliances and fight our ennemies on their territories. That's exactly how Ronald Reagan defeated our ennemies during his presidency and that's why I believe he would be supporting me in my project to keep our country safe and prosperous. »

-Ryan : « Just like it was the case forty years ago, our government is too big, which threatens our economy and free enterprise. We are more dependent on foreign oil, no free trade deal has been ratified during Hillary Clinton's term, our budget is in deficit and some of our businesses are offshoring. Just like a did many times in the past, I will cut government spending and taxes because, just like Ronald Reagan was, I'm promoting fiscal responsibility. I will promote oil exploration and production, free trade, school choice and business championing because we don't balance the budget by taxing Americans but by creating more jobs. Ronald Reagan understood it and followed this kind of solution by adopting Reaganomics. He would appreciate this kind of agenda I'm proposing and that's why he would endorse me. »

-Kasich : « I served in the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. I integrated this committee during the Reagan revolution. It was a time of necessitated increase in defense spending and I have the judgement to know when it's time to increase it. Today, this time is now : the world is more dangerous and our ennemies are stronger than ever before. By increasing military spending, we get our military and defense stronger, enough to defeat our ennemies. As governor, I balanced the budget and I know where to invest and where to cut to get this economy growing again, just like Ronald Reagan did, because that is fiscal responsibility. »

What is your plan to defeat ISIS?

-Rubio : « We must deny ISIS it's financial ressources by securing oil refineries in the Middle East and imposing sanctions on businesses and banks that knowingly work with ISIS. With our military power and our alliances, ISIS will be surrounded and destroyed. Like we always say since the birth of our nation : United We Stand! »

-Brown : « Military action is needed in the Middle East to defeat ISIS. We must also train the Kurds militarily to help them fighting ISIS. And it's out of the question to negociate ransoms with the terrorists, because ransoms will only reinforce terrorism. »

What's your plan to challenge the Second USSR?

-Rubio : « First, we need to arm and train the Ukrainian army just as Russia is doing for the pro-russian rebellion, which will give the upper-hand to our Ukrainian ally with American weapons. The Black Sea is a strategic position for Russia. So securing the Black Sea with our Navy and our allies' navies should overwhelm the pro-russian rebels in Ukraine. A Turkish adherance to the European Union could be politically and militarily strategic when it comes to countering Russia's imperial policies. And with a greater American military action in which we not only destroy ISIS but also topple Bachar el-Assad's regime and replace by a democratic government, Russia's ambitions in the Middle East will be in vain. And if necessary, we will defend Turkey against any Russian invasion. Russia is not only challenging us geopolitically but also economically. So we can economically challenge Russia by submitting our territorial claims in the Arctic and by exploiting the local oil reserves before the Russians do. That's how I will reverse President Clinton's foreign policy and challenge the Second USSR with leadership and courage. »

-Ryan : « To challenge Putin, I will impose tougher diplomatic and economic sanctions against Russia, which will hurt the Russian economy and force Moscow to modify it's policies. Such sanctions will make Russian oil and gas more expansive and encourage Ukraine to orientate to American oil and gas that would be less expansive and from a friendlier country. We also need to secure our economic zones in the Arctic before Russia does and to arm the Syrian rebellion to give them capability not only to fight ISIS but also to topple Assad. By integrating Ukraine in the European Union, we can promote free-trade with this country, thus reinforcing our diplomatic ties and give strength to the democratic spirit there, thus protecting this country from Russia. »

-Brown : « To protect Ukraine and the rest of the Eastern Europe against Russia, we need to deploy nuclear missiles there to deter any Russian agression. When it comes to Syria, we have to counter the Russian invasion by shooting down Russian warplanes, and only then we will be able to fight ISIS and the Assad regime successfully. »

Diplomatic qualifications

-Rubio : « In the U.S. Senate, I chaired the Comittee on Foreign Relations, I know how diplomacy works. As President, I will use my diplomatic experience to strengthen our relations with our allies and create new alliances. I cited the example of a military collaboration similar to NATO between the powers of the Pacific to prevent any Chineese agression or any North Korean nuclear attack against it's neighbours. I also cited the example of a military collaboration between our country, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to fight islamic terrorism and prevent any Iranian nuclear attack. Such alliances can work because all these countries have common goals like fighting islamic terrorism, stop Iran from getting nuclear weapon or prevent a geopolitical crisis in the Pacific. In the end of my first term, I supported a bill that strengthened our defense ties between United States and India, a strategic ally in the Indian Sub-Continent. Only with the collaboration of our allies, we will manage to defeat our ennemies and that's why I will promote strength through unity as commander-in-chief. »

-Ryan : « As Congressman and now as Speaker of the House of Representatives, sometimes it happened that I had to work with Democrats and working with another political party is also diplomacy. As president, I will prioritize the needs of Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East, by fighting radical islamic terrorism and making sure that Iran never gets nuclear weapon. This agenda requires collaboration between our local allies who are facing the same challenges and have a common goal. I will adopt a diplomacy of the common. »

Winners of the debate : Rubio (16,2 %), Ryan (13,4 %), Kasich (10,8 %), Brown (9,7 %), Cruz (8,6 %), Rauner (8,4 %), Pence (8,3 %), Paul (7,7 %).

[UWS]

November 11th 2019

Bruce Rauner exits the race

Due to low national poll standing, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner drops out of the race and endorses John Kasich.

[UWS]

Fifth Republican Presidential primary debate, November 26th 2019, Saint Anselm College, Goffstown, New Hampshire.

Participants : Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Scott Brown, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Rand Paul.

Moderator : Wolf Blitzer

Immigration

-Rubio : « We are a nation of immigrants and diversity is a good reputation for America. We need to make sure they can be integrated while our borders are secured. I was raised paycheck to paycheck and many immigrant families are living paycheck to paycheck so their kids don't have the same chance as other families to have the skills to succeed in America's schools. We need to promote school choice, which will cost these immigrant families less and produce higher outcomes compared to public education. It will grant parents the power to orientate their children out of poorly-performing schools assigned by zip code and look for better education elsewhere. It will expand opportunities for low-income students—especially minorities—to attend high-quality schools that would otherwise be accessible only to higher-income families. That's how we will create the good-paying jobs of tommorow and strengthen America's reputation as the land of opportunity. »

-Ryan : « By opening our country's doors to immigrants, America will demonstrate once again it's image as the hope of the Earth. Just like the Syrians who were running away from their countries, many immigrants from elsewhere are looking for a safer country where freedom of speech is tolerated, where free enterprise will give them the opportunity to prosper. So we need to broad opportunities for immigrants, that way we will be the party of all Americans, no matter their ethnicity, their faith or their beliefs, thus helping our party to win this election and make this country stronger and more prosperous. »

-Cruz : « I have ancestors not only from Cuba, but also from Canada. My aunt fought the Fidel Castro regime and was tortured for that. My father was accused of complicity with Lee Harvey Oswald, John F. Kennedy's assassin, which is absolutely false. We should not see immigrants as ennemies, but as people on their own looking for a better life. But we have to increase the security in our borders to make sure that no terrorists gets in our country, thus ensuring security. »

Education

-Rubio : « We have to give all Americans the opportunity to have a perfect education. Education should be one of our greatest priorities to ensure social success. School choice will give parents and their kids more power in students' orientation and increase their chance of success and of entry into the workforce. China & India graduate more science & engineering PhDs, which is boosting their innovation knowledge faster than ours, boosting their industries and helps them creating much more new businesses than we do. So we need to increase education funding to make it easier to create the jobs of tommorow and help students studying in business administration or in engeneering to create, open and developp new businesses that will create more jobs thanks to increased knowledge. The Sununu family represents a great example of job creation and prosperity through knowledge. Let's give all American people this chance. »

-Ryan : « More funding is effectively needed in education to create more businesses and new jobs. That's what we can call the knowledge economy. We must put our children's needs before unions' interests. School choice will give a chance for all Americans to accomplish the American Dream. By investing in education, we will create more companies and remain the number 1 country in the world in terms of job creation. »

Nuclear weapons

-Rubio : « We can prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons, of course, by increasing economic sanctions against Tehran but also by strengthening our geopolitical alliances in the region. We must not rule out the military option, but it will be the last option. In this case, we would, as Israel is considering, launch airstrikes on Iranian nuclear centrals to make sure that any hope of nuclear military arsenal fades away. As President, I will also put in place anti-missile shields to stop any nuclear missile is launched against us or our allies. »

-Brown : « As long as I will be president of the United States, Iran will never ever get a nuclear weapon. For this, I will organize secret missions to assassinate all Iranian nuclear experts, which will make them lose knowledge in nuclear, thus preventing them from getting a nuclear weapon. »

-Paul : « We don't need to intervene  militarily in Iran. Already the sanctions are hurting their economy, thus making them unable to develop a nuclear military arsenal. »

Electability

-Rubio : « Throughout my political career, I showed my ability to bring Hispanic votes for our party. I'm one of them and I proposed to them positive agendas. Now, Hispanics represent over 15 % of the electorate and all Millenials are eligible to vote. I will demonstrate my capacity to attract Hispanics, other minorities and young people to the “ Grand Opportunity Party ” by offering them a better agenda than Hillary Clinton's that gave us depression, economic decline, weakness and more danger here and in the rest of the world. My great knowledge and accomplishments in foreign policy will be a counterbalance to Hillary Clinton's foreign policy experience that gave instability, danger and weakness on the international stage. I will reverse this tendency, make the world safer, hunt down terrorists, create stronger alliances and relationships and increase freedom and democracy in the world. That is why I'm the best candidate on this stage to take on Hillary Clinton. »

-Kasich : « With over 40 years of political experience, I can counterbalance Hillary Clinton's political experience. With 18 years in the House Armed Services Committee, I have a great judgement on foreign policy and as a former member of some financial services firms I understand how the economy works. I know that climate change is a real problem and as Ohio Governor, I diversed this state's economy by encouraging the production of alternative energies. We need to be a party of innovation and that's why I need your l help and your vote to bring to the White House a project of innovation for America. »

-Brown : « I was Senator in Massachusetts a blue state. So I learned to work with Democrats and for that, we have to put partisanship aside. This procedure will give the American people trust in their government. When we are President of the United States we are President of those who voted for us as well as for those who didn't vote for us. If I'm our party's nominee, I will be able to bring Republicans, Independents as well as Democrats disappointed Hillary Clinton's failed policies, which will help our party winning the White House next year. »

-Ryan : « When I ran for vice-president in 2012, Mitt Romney and I were close from victory and I learned how we lost and use these lessons to win this time as the nominee. With my knowledge on fiscal and economic issues, I will be able to grow this economy after 12 years of economic weakness. I balanced the budget many many times in my career and supported plans that created good-paying jobs. Hillary Clinton said four or five years ago that businesses don't create jobs. That's wrong, businesses represent the greatest sector in terms of job creation. Hillary Clinton does not understand the economy unlike me and that's why I'm one of the most eligible candidates on this stage. »

-Rubio : « I don't doubt of Speaker Ryan's leadership. I like Speaker Ryan and I respect all vice-presidential nominees whether or not they won. But there's almost no losing vice-presidential nominees in our history that ever won a presidential race at the top of the ticket. If you lost a general election eight years ago, if you didn't manage to diversify our electoral base how can you expect a victory next time? »

-Ryan : « Like I said, I learned from defeat. And you know, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the running mate of James M. Cox, the 1920 Democratic presidential nominee, and they lost to the Republican ticket led by Warren G. Harding. However, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the presidency as the Democratic nominee twelve years later by a landslide and then was elected three more times. »

-Rubio : « Speaker Ryan you are no Franklin Delano Roosevelt! »


Winners of the debate : Rubio (25,1 %), Ryan (15,9 %), Brown (14 %), Cruz (13 %), Kasich (11,8 %), Pence (10,4 %), Paul (9,7 %).

[UWS]

Sixth Republican Presidential primary debate, December 12th 2019, Houston, Texas, part 1.

Participants : Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Scott Brown, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Rand Paul.

Moderator : Brian Williams

Oil

-Rubio : « All sources of energy in this country should be produced and exploited, oil, gas, nuclear, wind, renewable, for the good of the economy. Hillary Clinton's regulations and taxes on oil companies have no effect but hurting the economy and destroy more jobs. To boost oil production and create new jobs, I will expand oil permits on federal lands, approve the building of Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, build a transcontinental pipeline from Pennsylvania to California and approve oil exploration and drilling in ANWR in Alaska, a state that has the potential of getting us out of the terrible effects of the Third Oil Crisis with its abundance of oil reserves. Not only oil production boosting will create more jobs, but it will also boost our automotive industry and save Detroit, Chicago and all the great towns of the Great Lakes from bankruptcy that would make this recession much worse than it already is. After reinforcing our energy revolution as well as our status as the greatest oil producer in the world and our energy independence with new technologies, we can fully encourage the exploitation of alternative energy. »

-Ryan : « Oil is a vital element of the American economy. We need to use all energy sources, without stifling energy production to boost job creation and relaunch our automotive industry. If you want to know if such a procedure works, just ask Mitt Romney who is supporting me and whose family has a great reputation in the private sector and business administration and has good connections in Detroit, the Automotive Capital of the World. I chaired in the House Budget Committee in the House of the Representatives, so I know where to invest in the budget to create jobs. As president of the United States, I will invest in new technologies to get us off of foreign oil, then we can permanently fulfill our energy needs with our own energies and create jobs for all the American people. »

-Cruz : « Barely 49 years ago, I was born in Calgary, the greatest oil producing Canadian province where my parents were working in the oil business as owners of a seismic-data processing firm for oil drilling. Since the conception of Keystone XL pipeline project in the mid-2000s, I'm supporting this project in the Justice Department and in the Senate. Just like here in the United States, regulations and taxes on Alberta oil imposed by Rachel Notley put this province in a deeper recession and that's why Albertans elected Brian Jean (Wildrose) as their prime minister in May to bring business and economic experience in their government and to boost oil production and drilling in order to bring prosperity back in Alberta. We must follow this example by expanding permits and licenses on federal lands and approving the construction of Keystone XL pipeline, which will create over 40 000 new jobs here in the United States and help us creating new technologies to get us stronger energy independence for the good of our economy and American jobs. »

Free Trade

-Rubio : « Over Hillary Clinton's presidency, there's no single free trade agreement ratified by the United States of America. Hillary Clinton embraced protectionism that did not ever create a single job. Globalization is a great element of the 21st century and created more economic opportunities with competitive wages and worker benefits. If Hillary Clinton doesn't believe this, then it demonstrates that she's disconnected from reality. In this time of crisis and recession, free trade is clearly needed in order to make our country competitive again, to create new American jobs and make sure America remains the greatest economic power of the world. With energy independence, our cars will be less expensive than Asian cars, which represents an advantage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Free trade will boost free enterprise which is the strength of our economy. It will also give international consumers a greater access to American products, which will be good for our economy. America's ability to compete and innovate derives from its open markets and from the continual search for new markets through the expansion of free trade. Silicon Valley, which is bordering the Pacific Ocean and has a social and business ethos that supports innovation and entrepreneurship, represents a great example of desire for innovation. Goods and services crossing borders favor new ideas and models and allow our producers to learn about the market through the failure and success of traded products. While learning more, they will be able to innovate to remain competitive. With its globalization effects, free trade contributed to the democratization of some countries like Indonesia in the 1990s. With Henrique Capriles Radonski's election as Venezuelan president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's election as Peruvian president three years ago and Aécio Neves' election as Brazilian president is opening a path to free trade with Latin America. Free trade will not only create jobs in our country, but also ensure the expansion of American businesses here and across the world and make our diplomatic relations stronger across the world. It requires a reduction of tariffs to make exportations and importations less expansive for the good of the economy, our companies and our jobs. »

-Ryan : « We need to promote free trade to create jobs and expand our companies. China vows to surpass us as the first economic power in the world. China is lead by an oppressive communist government that does not embrace free enterprise and restricts freedom of the Chinese people. Beijing is also disputing insular territories in the Pacific and shows it's incredible military power in order to threat it's opponents in the region. That's why our partners in the Pacific will find a better commercial partner than China : we embrace free enterprise, which ensures economic prosperity and less government in the economy's handle. We fight for liberty, for security in the Pacific Ocean and for territorial integrity in this region. In addition, energy independence will make our cars less expensive than Chinese cars, which will incite consumers in the Pacific to buy more American cars, thus increasing their purchasing power and favor our automotive industry and create more American jobs. That's why I take the pledge to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership. »

[UWS]

Sixth Republican Presidential primary debate, December 12th 2019, Houston, Texas, part 2.

Why you are the most likely to beat Hillary Clinton?

-Rubio : « Our country is in terrible recession and the world is much more dangerous than it was twelve years ago. We can't afford to lose this election. We absolutely need to win the White House next year in order to make the economy growing again with energy independence, free trade, better education for our kids, budget balance, business promotion and free enterprise. We absolutely need to win the White House next year in order to make the world safer by increasing defense spending, protecting our allies intervening militarily in places where terrorism represents a great threat, eradicating terrorism, fighting for liberty, democracy and security in the world and countering Russia's aggressive foreign policy. With my foreign policy experience, I will put in place a stronger foreign policy than Hillary Clinton's. But to make sure this kind of agenda will come true, we have to unite the different factions of the Republican Party together and I got as much support from the Tea Party as from the establishment. We have to attract minority voters (especially Hispanics) and young voters and I represent both of these electoral bases and understand their problems and needs. So I will use my political agenda and my ability to bring people together to beat Hillary Clinton. »

-Ryan : « I learned from defeat seven years ago. I know we need to open our country's door to immigrants. I'm Speaker of the House of Representatives, so I'm second in the United States presidential line of succession after the Vice President of the United States, an office which I was running for in 2012. For two times, I got closer to the  highest office. During her term, Hillary Clinton has not been able to do what her husband during his presidency, which is balancing the budget. I handle the budget for over twenty years in the House. I invest in the right places to boost job creation and grow the economy. When I ran alongside Governor Romney, a great CEO, I learned a few more about how to create jobs. Job creation requires energy independence, free trade, education success, budget balance and business championing. With the creation of good paying jobs, we can balance the budget and obtain budget surplus that will allow us to invest in job creating programs and in the improvement of U.S. military equipment, which will make America more prosperous and safer. »

-Cruz : « We must not get it wrong again this time around. We need to nominate someone who has a clear and strong conservative record in his political life. I am this conservative. I'm a pro-life in every circumstance, a defender of free gun possession and I believe in marriage's definition as being basically between a man and a woman. In 2000, I assisted in assembling George W. Bush's legal team and helped him to narrowly win the presidency, which contributed to a presidency of compassionate conservatism for eight years. If we nominate another moderate, we'll lose again because many conservative voters will stay home on election day instead of voting because a moderate nominee does not share all their values. I'm a great unifier as well. When I challenged Donald Trump for the nomination four years ago, I got support from both the Tea Party and the establishment. I was endorsed by Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney. So if I'm nominated, all of our party will finally get together in order to take on Hillary Clinton and defeat her. »

-Paul : « First of all Ted, all these politicians from the establishment that you cited supported you only because they did not want Donald Trump to get nominated and you were the only remaining candidate in good position to beat him for the nomination, but you lost. We're not in 2016 anymore, now we're in 2019 and soon in 2020 and Donald Trump is not running anymore since he lost badly to Hillary Clinton and now the Republican Party has more choices than they had four years ago to select the next Republican nominee. But Brian, when it comes to beating Hillary Clinton, she is spending too much in defense spending, which did not give great results and made the world more dangerous than it was four years ago. America should handle its own concerns instead of other countries' concerns. Government is too big. By embracing fiscal conservatism, we will balance the budget, which Hillary Clinton was not able to do. I will bring honesty back in the White House after many years of lies from Hillary Clinton, notably about Benghazi and her emails. We need to tell the truth to the American people and I take that pledge. That's how I will win on November. »
-Brown : « I was Senator in Massachusetts a blue state. So I learned to work with Democrats and for that, we have to put partisanship aside. This procedure will give the American people trust in their government. Just like Ronald Reagan did in 1980, I will be able to get disaffected Democratic votes, which will lead me to victory. As a soldier, I got more experience in developing geopolitical and military strategies. I will demonstrate a better judgement than Hillary Clinton on foreign policy and that I will be able to bring peace, security and freedom here and abroad because that's the duty of a commander-in-chief and I'm ready to be commander-in-chief on day one. »

-Pence : « As our nominee, I will fight for freedom religion, free gun possession, free enterprise, fiscal responsibility, marriage between a man and a woman and against abortion. So my conservative faith and duty will bring our party together and lead us to victory next year. »

Winners of the debate : Rubio (24,5 %), Ryan (17,5 %), Kasich (16,5 %), Cruz (12,6 %), Brown (10,3 %), Pence (9,3 %), Paul (9,3 %).

[UWS]

December 2019

While President Clinton is running her reelection campaign and slams her GOP rivals, all Republican presidential candidates are focusing their efforts on the Iowa caucuses that will be held on January 6th 2020.

-Marco Rubio promises Iowans and local evangelicals that he will fight for freedom of religion and that military action in the Middle East will save their coreligionists from persecution and jihadist attacks. Since agriculture is the greatest economic activity in Iowa, the Florida Senator also promises to cut taxes and regulations on U.S. businesses, including tractor manufacturing companies as well as seed companies and to give them tax credits in order to help these companies to innovate, to create new jobs and to increase the production of agricultural tractors and seeds, thus helping Iowans to accomplish their agricultural activities and ensure their subsistence. Rubio affirms that energy independence will also boost tractor manufacturing. He argues that his plan will reduce Iowans' and Americans' dependence on food stamps by the reduction of inflation and food prices, which will reinforce their purchasing power and give them more access to food.

He successfully slams Paul Ryan and Ted Cruz for their incapacity of defunding Obamacare. In fact, every time that Ryan tried to repeal Obamacare, he faced a Democratic bloc, which forced him every time to rise debt ceiling. Ted Cruz led the 2013 government shutdown, trying to defund Obamacare, but without success.

-Paul Ryan promises Iowa to invest in new technologies that will ensure America's energy independence, which will boost oil and gas production and consumption as well as tractor manufacturing, thus creating new jobs for Iowans and helping them to accomplish their agricultural activities and ensure their subsistence. In Iowa, Speaker Ryan has the advantage of his home state (Wisconsin) bordering the first state to vote in the primaries.

-Ted Cruz promises to promote freedom of religion, to cut funding for abortion clinics in order to restrict abortion. He also takes the pledge of encouraging creationism teaching in schools.

[UWS]

2020 Republican Nomination Poll - December 2019

• Marco Rubio : 28 %
• Paul Ryan : 21 %
• Ted Cruz : 15 %
• John Kasich : 13 %
• Scott Brown : 12 %
• Mike Pence : 7 %
• Rand Paul : 4 %

Republican Primary Poll - Iowa

• Marco Rubio : 22 %
• Paul Ryan : 20 %
• Ted Cruz : 18 %
• Mike Pence : 14 %
• John Kasich : 13 %
• Rand Paul : 5 %
• Scott Brown : 4 %
• Undecided : 4 %

Republican Primary Poll - New Hampshire

• Scott Brown : 19 %
• Marco Rubio : 16 %
• Paul Ryan : 15 %
• John Kasich : 14 %
• Ted Cruz : 13 %
• Mike Pence : 10 %
• Rand Paul : 8 %
• Undecided : 5 %

Republican Primary Poll - South Carolina

• Marco Rubio : 23 %
• Ted Cruz : 20 %
• Paul Ryan : 18 %
• Scott Brown : 15 %
• John Kasich : 11 %
• Mike Pence : 8 %
• Rand Paul : 5 %

[UWS]

New endorsements for the Republican presidential primaries, 2020 - December 2019

Marco Rubio

• New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu
• Iowa Senator Joni Ernst
• Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman
• The Des Moines Register

Paul Ryan

• Former New Hampshire Governor John H. Sununu
• Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder

Ted Cruz

• Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions
• Former Hewlett-Packard CEO, 2016 presidential candidate Carly Fiorina

Rand Paul

• Michigan Senator Justin Amash

Mike Pence

• Indiana Senator Todd Young
• Actor Chuck Norris

Scott Brown

• U.S. Congressman from New York Peter T. King

[UWS]

Seventh Republican Presidential primary debate, January 3rd 2020, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Participants : Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Scott Brown, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Rand Paul.

Moderator : Jake Tapper

Terrorism in Africa

Terrorism in Africa

-Rubio : « Hillary Clinton has a clear responsibility in the rise of radical Islamic terrorism in Africa. Under her leadership as Secretary of State and as President of the United States, two of our embassies were attacked by Islamic terrorists and now ISIS represents a clear and present danger in Egypt because of Hillary Clinton's lack of leadership. The contour of the Mediterranean has become less safe and the terrorist attack in Rome in March of last year demonstrated it. We need to establish a no-fly zone to fight ISIS in Egypt with our warplanes and with our troops, if necessary. If we intervene in Egypt, we will not be alone : our allies in the region, from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East share our goal of defeating radical Islamic terrorism, so they will join us in our fight. To fight Islamic terrorism across all the African continent, I propose the creation of an intelligence service agency that will help African governments to fight terrorism on their territories through the use of drones and the service of agents working for this agency. As President, I will also take the CIA in charge to train African armies to make sure they will successfully fight terrorism with American war techniques. That way, with all that collaboration of African governments, we can defeat ISIS, Boko Haram, the Lord's Resistance Army, etc., thus making Africa safer, saving more lives and strengthening liberty on the African continent. »

-Ryan : « If we want to make our diplomatic missions in Africa more successful, we need to reinforce security in our embassies by sending more U.S. soldiers there. The more soldiers we got to defend an embassy, the more successful this defense is. We need to provide African armies military training to make them capable of defeating terrorism. Since more than two decades, Somalia is threatened by Al-Shabaab and by Somali pirates. Now is time of action! If I'm elected, we will launch a naval offense in the Red Sea and around the Horn of Africa to eradicate Somali piracy and overwhelm Al-Shabaab, thus helping the Somali government to defeat this terrorist group once and for all like the poison it is. »

-Brown : « I agree with Speaker Ryan, we must eradicate Somali piracy. If we don't, many American and foreign innocent civilians will be killed and much more of our trading ships will be delayed or destroyed by pirates, which will threat our economic interests in Africa. Once these pirates eradicated, our trading ships can finally float in this region in security and we can trade with Africa. »

Energy resources in the Arctic

-Rubio : « We need to launch our country in the race into the Arctic. It's a strategic territory with great potential. There's an abundance of oil and gas in the Arctic, particularly on the Alaskan coasts and the Beaufort Sea. We must secure these resources before the Russians do and exploit and drill these oil and gas reserves to create new jobs and increase our energy independence. To do that easily and safely without any danger, I propose that we proceed by building more underwater tankers that will be able to exploit oilfields under water as well as more oil platforms. In order to avoid territorial disputes with Canada, I will build a pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Calgary, a project similar to Keystone XL. My energy plan will create many jobs, consolidate our energy independence and reduce gasoline and oil prices, strengthening the American people's purchasing power and that of Canadians who will buy more American oil than Canadian oil to save money. »

-Ryan : « If I'm President, I will invest in new technologies that Senator Rubio just mentioned to exploit these hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic region. Oil and gas exploitation and drilling in this region is necessary for job creation, energy independence and prosperity. We need to get government where it is supposed to be and allow free enterprise to boost energy production. Tax incentives for energy production and conservation must be reduced, it solves nothing and does nothing but hurting the economy. I will also launch oil drilling in ANWR and use its $200B in revenue for alternative energy. Oil production does not prohibit restrain alternative and renewable energy production. Both of these kinds of energy production will double our energy independence, create jobs and ensure Environment protection. »

-Cruz : « As president, I will cut taxes on oil companies and give them permits to drill in Alaska coasts and in the Arctic region. Since I'm born in Canada, I understand Canadian territorial concerns in the Arctic region. So I will build a pipeline between Alaska and Alberta, passing by Yukon. The results will be massive job creation, increasing of our energy independence, the reduction of oil prices and a greater purchasing power four our fellow citizens and for Canadians who will consume more American oil than Canadian oil to save money. »

Abortion

-Brown : « In the recent weeks, Senator Rubio attacked me for being a pro-choice. But when we are commander-in-chief, we have to respect the decision of every American woman. Think about raped women, if they abort, they can keep living into dignity. During the wars In fought, I saw enough killing, so I know how valuable human life is. »

-Rubio : « Abortion is never O.K. I understand that woman's right is the law but if we tolerate abortion, future generations are likely to look back at this history of our country and call us barbarians for murdering millions of babies who we never gave them a chance to live. Human life is precious and if you're saying that you've seen enough killing in your life while you tolerate abortion, then you will see much more killing and surely even too much killing. I'm a proud conservative supporter of life and growth of our workforce in the future. We need to be a pro-life party if we want to keep our electoral base and if you don't believe in it, how can our electoral base trust you in defending their values and promoting life? »

Winners of the debate : Rubio (24 %), Ryan (16,2 %), Kasich (13,7 %), Brown (13,1 %), Cruz (11,2 %), Paul (11,2 %), Pence (10,6 %).

[UWS]

2020 Republican Nomination Poll - December 2019

• Marco Rubio : 29 %
• Paul Ryan : 23 %
• Ted Cruz : 16 %
• John Kasich : 12 %
• Scott Brown : 10 %
• Mike Pence : 7 %
• Rand Paul : 3 %

Republican Primary Poll - Iowa

• Marco Rubio : 24 %
• Paul Ryan : 21 %
• Ted Cruz : 19 %
• Mike Pence : 15 %
• John Kasich : 14 %
• Rand Paul : 3 %
• Scott Brown : 3 %
• Undecided : 1 %

Republican Primary Poll - New Hampshire

• Scott Brown : 19 %
• Marco Rubio : 17 %
• Paul Ryan : 17 %
• John Kasich : 15 %
• Ted Cruz : 13 %
• Mike Pence : 10 %
• Rand Paul : 8 %
• Undecided : 1 %

[UWS]

2020 Republican Primary Calendar

Total delegates 2435 delegates

Delegates needed to win the nomination 1218 delegates

January

• January 6 : Iowa (28 delegates)
• January 13 : New Hampshire (21 delegates)
• January 24 : South Carolina (48 delegates)
• January 27 : North Carolina (71 delegates)
• January 31 : Maine (22 delegates)

February

• February 3 : Colorado (35 delegates), Minnesota (34 delegates)
• February 6 : Nevada (29 delegates)
• February 24 : Michigan (58 delegates), Wyoming (27 delegates)

March

• March 3 (SUPER TUESDAY) : Alaska (26 delegates), Arkansas (38 delegates), Florida (98 delegates), Georgia (74 delegates), Idaho (32 delegates), Massachusetts (41 delegates), North Dakota (28 delegates), Oklahoma (41 delegates), Tennessee (56 delegates), Texas (153 delegates), Vermont (16 delegates), Virginia (49 delegates)
• March 7 : Louisiana (46 delegates), Washington (43 delegates)
• March 10 : Hawaii (19 delegates), Mississippi (38 delegates), Ohio (65 delegates), American Samoa (9 delegates)
• March 14 : Kansas (40 delegates), Guam (9 delegates), Northern Marianas (9 delegates), U.S. Virgin Islands (9 delegates)
• March 15 : Puerto Rico (23 delegates)
• March 17 : Alabama (50 delegates), Illinois (69 delegates), Missouri (52 delegates)
• March 24 : Arizona (56 delegates), Utah (40 delegates)

April

• April 7 : Washington D.C. (19 delegates), Maryland (38 delegates), Wisconsin (42 delegates)
• April 21 : Connecticut (28 delegates), Delaware (17 delegates), Rhode Island (19 delegates), New York (95 delegates), Pennsylvania (73 delegates)

May

• May 5 : Indiana (57 delegates)
• May 12 : Nebraska (34 delegates), West Virginia (32 delegates)
• May 19 : Kentucky (46 delegates)
• May 26 : Oregon (28 delegates)

June

• June 9 : California (172 delegates), Montana (27 delegates), New Jersey (52 delegates), New Mexico (24 delegates), South Dakota (30 delegates)

2020 Republican National Convention

Date(s) : July 12-15 2020

City Las Vegas, Nevada

[UWS]

January 6th, 2020

THE IOWA CAUCUSES

« The polls has just closed and we can project that Florida Senator Marco Rubio wins the Iowa Republican caucuses. »

Iowa

• Marco Rubio : 29 % (8 delegates) ✔
• Paul Ryan : 26 % (7 delegates)
• Ted Cruz : 17 % (5 delegates)
• Mike Pence : 14 % (4 delegates)
• John Kasich : 7 % (2 delegates)
• Rand Paul : 3 % (1 delegate)
• Scott Brown : 2 % (1 delegate)

RAND PAUL DROPS OUT OF THE RACE

« These are disappointing results. It's useless continue my campaign. That's why I suspend my campaign, but my campaign for liberty is not over and I'm proving it by endorsing my friend Senator Ted Cruz. »

Marco Rubio's victory speech

« Thank you Iowa! Iowa sent a clear message : time has come to change leadership in the White House in order to bring prosperity, leadership and security in this country and to get America back on track. Iowa supported my agenda and I take the pledge to accomplish it as President of the United States! Thank you and God Bless America! »

Delegate count

• Marco Rubio : 8 delegates
• Paul Ryan : 7 delegates
• Ted Cruz : 5 delegates
• Mike Pence : 4 delegates
• John Kasich : 2 delegates
• Scott Brown : 1 delegate
• Rand Paul : 1 delegate

Delegates needed to win the nomination : 1218 delegates

Republican National Primary Poll - After Iowa

• Marco Rubio : 32 %
• Paul Ryan : 25 %
• Ted Cruz : 15 %
• John Kasich : 12 %
• Mike Pence : 8 %
• Scott Brown : 8 %

Republican Primary Poll - New Hampshire

• Marco Rubio : 20 %
• Paul Ryan : 19 %
• Scott Brown : 19 %
• John Kasich : 16 %
• Ted Cruz : 13%
• Mike Pence : 10 %
• Undecided : 3 %

Republican Primary Poll - South Carolina

• Marco Rubio : 28 %
• Ted Cruz : 21 %
• Paul Ryan : 20 %
• John Kasich : 12 %
• Scott Brown : 10 %
• Mike Pence : 9 %

[UWS]

Seventh Republican Presidential primary debate, January 8th 2020, Concord, New Hampshire

Participants : Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Scott Brown, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, John Kasich

Moderator(s) : Chris Wallace, Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier

Economy

-Rubio : « Like we all agree with, economic growth requires energy independence and innovation. The CTA named me Innovation Policy Ninja, which is why I promote economic growth through innovation. We must use all our energies, oil, gas, nuclear, wind, solar energy and electrical energy. The Energy Information Administration reported that New Hampshire's energy consumption and per capita energy consumption are among the lowest in the country. We need to increase it if we want to create new jobs. New Hampshire represents a perfect example of this desire to develop the electric industry since the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear reactor in New England and provides about 30 % of New Hampshire's electricity. I have a plan to boost our electric industry as well as our nuclear industry. I support an expansion of the Quebec–New England Electric Power Transmission to create new American jobs and develop new electric technologies that will help us creating more jobs. I will also, as President of the United States, in the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) woo French investors with electric industry skills in order to help our electric and nuclear industries growing thanks to nuclear technologies adopted by France, one of our greatest partners and one of the greatest electric powers in the world. That way, not only new American jobs will be created, but more Americans will have access to electricity. »

-Ryan : « I agree that we must develop all of our energies, including renewable ones. Of course, it requires energy independence, which passes in part oil drilling and exploitation across our territory, including in ANWR. That will allow us to keep our status as the greatest oil producer in the world. After we launched oil drilling in ANWR, I will use its $200B in revenue for alternative energy, including electricity and nuclear for the good of our economy and our environment. »

-Brown : « I'm from a blue state, so I will be able to work with the Democrats. In this time of economic crisis, we all want, Republicans and Democrats, economic growth and job creation for all Americans. I support the idea of expanding the Quebec–New England Electric Power Transmission to create new American jobs and develop new electric technologies that will help us creating more jobs. This will be such a great deal between Republicans and Democrats that I'm sure my agenda in terms of renewable energy production will pass in the Congress because it will be good for both our economy and our environment. That's what we call bipartisanship and bipartisanship is a procedure that Hillary Clinton did not have the courage to follow unlike her husband Bill during his eight-year presidency. »

Gun control

-Ryan : « Senator Brown, how can you be a conservative pro-gun while opposing right-to-carry reciprocity and advocatting licenses and background checks as well as an extension of the state assault weapons ban? »

-Brown : « First of all mister Speaker, I'm effectively pro-gun. I support an extension of the state assault weapons ban, but not federal. We need to move forward on gun control in order to prevent terrorist attacks on our territory such as the ones in San Bernardino in 2015 and in Orlando in 2016. »

-Rubio : « Sacrificing a constitutional right is in violation of the Constitution of the United States of America, in violation of freedom and in violation of America's principles. Senator Brown, the right answer to such terrorist attacks like in San Bernardino and Orlando, in my home state of Florida, is not gun control but anti-terrorism crusade. The more of our efforts we will devote on War on Terror, the safer our country will be. »

Why should India be a member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

-Rubio : « India is a great friend and ally of ours. New Delhi is a very strategic ally for the United States. It represents a political, military and economic counterweight to China. This country can also work with us and with Pakistan and Afghanistan to lead an effective fight against terrorism and to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon because it's two goals that these countries have in common. India is the greatest democracy in the world in terms of population while globalization that brought democratization into countries previously oppressed by dictators is one of the greatest effects of free trade. It's a great free market nation that is sharing our values. Free trade with India will give Indian consumers a greater access to American products, which will be good for our economy. Florida’s $1 billion annual exports to India are a reason why trade ties with India’s large and growing market matter to Americans. America's ability to compete and innovate derives from its open markets and from the continual search for new markets through the expansion of free trade. As a consequence, India's integrating into TPP will boost our economy, create jobs. It's not only free trade, but also fair trade, because it will give India new American free-market technologies and skills to develop their markets and industries and create jobs for all Indians, whose some fellow citizens are living into poverty in a so great industrialized country. »

-Ryan : « India is very needed ally for the United States. It's a great and powerful country that could play a great role in stabilizing Afghanistan and stoping Iran's nuclear program. If and when China violates South China's sea territorial integrity by claiming its sovereignty on this region's islands, America and India will make diplomatic and economic sanctions against Beijing heavier because India is, as Senator Rubio said, a counterweight to China. India's markets have a great value just like American markets. Being competitive in such an economically dynamic region like India or East Asia requires developping trade ties with India to boost job creation through trade and innovation. That's why I voted YES on promoting TPP and as President, I will convince the Congress to vote YES on expanding it by integrating India into this free-trade agreement. »

Winners of the debate : Rubio (23 %), Ryan (18,2 %), Brown (16,2 %), Cruz (15,6 %), Kasich (13,9 %), Pence (13,1 %).