University of Houston hosts GOP presidential debate

Just 30 minutes away from UHCL, CNN hosted the last GOP debate before Super Tuesday. The debate took place in the Moore’s Opera House at University of Houston and gave the five remaining candidates a final opportunity to sway voters.

The debate started with candidate Ben Carson requesting that his fellow candidates abstain from “trying to destroy each other,” and instead focus on “looking for solutions.”

Carson’s plea went unheeded, as one of the focal points of the night’s debate was the Marco Rubio-Donald Trump feud as they vied for the Republican spot on the ballot.

“The people who stole the spotlight were Rubio and Trump, because they went back and forth so many times,” said Sandy Samaan, biology major and president of UHCL’s Political Science Student Organization.

Rubio accused Trump of not practicing what he preaches regarding immigration by saying Trump was fined for hiring illegal workers from Poland.

“Look it up, ‘Trump Polish workers,’” Rubio said. “You’ll see a million dollars for hiring illegal workers on one of his projects. He did it.”

Trump did not deny the allegations.

“I’ve hired tens of thousands of people over at my job,” Trump said. “You’ve hired nobody.”

As Rubio pressed on, Trump repeated himself louder.

“And by the way, I’ve hired — and by the way, I’ve hired tens of thousands of people over my lifetime, tens of thousands,” Trump repeated, speaking over Rubio.

After being pressed further by Rubio, Trump took a pause before telling Rubio to stop talking.

“Be quiet,” Trump told Rubio. “Just be quiet.”

Rubio continued to speak, sometimes out of turn, after Trump almost every time. Rubio criticized Trump’s outsourced clothing production, Trump’s past bankruptcies, Trump University and Trump’s unreleased tax returns.

Cruz also took a shot at Trump, pointing out his lack of political experience.

“And in 2013, when I was leading the fight against the ‘gang of eight’ amnesty bill, where was Donald?” Cruz asked. “He was firing Dennis Rodman on ‘Celebrity Apprentice.’”

Kasich, for the most part, stayed out of the squabble but spoke following Cruz’ critique of the amnesty bill.

“I favor a guest worker program; I think it’s practical,” Kasich said. “I think for the 11 million or 11.5 million Americans — the illegals that are here, if they have not committed a crime since they’ve been here, I’d make them pay a fine, some back taxes, maybe some community service. And at the end, I’d give them a path to legalization but not a path to citizenship.”

The continued conversation was centered around an important issue for this race: immigration.

“Immigration and international relations are really the spearhead and the anchors of this race,” said William Hoston, associate professor in political science.

The focus on immigration, however, was cut short by the candidate who requested that the debaters abstain from destroying each other.

“Can someone attack me please?” Carson asked.

The question garnered laughs and shed light on the debate moderators’  lack of questions for Carson.

“Carson is well-known, obviously, in the medical department,” Samaan said. “The political side of things? I’m still not really sure people take him too seriously.”

Despite Rubio’s efforts, numerous polls show Trump as the winner of the debate.

“Kasich is the one that stood out, and I think that he made a really good impression tonight,” Samaan said.

Super Tuesday’s results show Trump won seven states, as did Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party.

“Trump has all of the momentum working in his favor,” Hoston said. “I think as people dwindle out of the race, you will begin to see support for either Trump, Cruz or Rubio, but at this point it just seems like Trump has more support from those who have dropped out of the race.”

While the Republican Party struggles due to the large number of remaining candidates, the Democratic Party has narrowed its candidates down to two: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

“I think what it will really come down to on the Democratic side is really, can Hillary carry these remaining states?” Hoston said, “Obviously on Tuesday, she won seven states, so she’s head and shoulders about Bernie Sanders at this point.”

While Trump dominates the Republican vote, front-runners Cruz and Rubio have both had the validity of their candidacy questioned. 

“This birther discussion is really a distraction from the bigger issues,” Hoston said, “The bigger issue is who is going to best broadcast their message to the American people?”