The Positioning in michigan
Referee's report card for the 11th republican debate
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March 4, 2016 – Rest assured, this debate recap will not discuss the size of any candidate's hands or what that size indicates for any other part of their anatomy. In fact, we generally ignored a lot of the interrupting and yelling that happened at last night's debates. Instead, we focused on the candidate's substantive answers to the questions and decided whether or not those answers deserved to be penalized.
As always, Ballotball.com played referee. We didn't pick a winner—you, the voter, should decide that for yourself. But we did try to keep the bout civil by throwing flags and calling penalties in real time. There were essentially only 3 rules: answer the question, don't stray off topic, and don't compare any of your opponents to the Nazis.
As always, Ballotball.com played referee. We didn't pick a winner—you, the voter, should decide that for yourself. But we did try to keep the bout civil by throwing flags and calling penalties in real time. There were essentially only 3 rules: answer the question, don't stray off topic, and don't compare any of your opponents to the Nazis.
The candidates
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Donald Trump - Delegate Total: 319 (1,237 needed to win nomination)
3 penalties
Failure to answer: Donald Trump was asked if he would move his clothing factories from China and Mexico to America in order to practice what he preaches about securing American jobs. In response, Trump attacked China, Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia for devaluing their currencies, and he attacked the TPP for being a disaster. Failure to answer: Trump was asked several times whether he would allow the tape of the “off the record” conversation he had with the New York Times editorial board to be released. He said he had “much respect” for the private nature of "off the record" conversations, but didn’t say if he would allow the tape to be released. Failure to stay on topic: Trump was repeatedly attacked for a pending lawsuit against him by former students at Trump University. He veered off topic radically by calling Rubio “the real con-artist” for scamming the people of Florida by not showing up to vote in the Senate. |
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Ted Cruz - Delegate Total: 226
3 penalties
Failure to answer: Ted Cruz was asked why he thought Donald Trump was doing better among evangelicals and conservatives in the 14 completed primaries. It may seem unrealistic to expect a politician to explain why he is being beaten by another politician and, unsurprisingly, Cruz ignored the question and launched into a speech on why he is a true conservative and how he is poised to beat Trump. Failure to stay on topic: Cruz was asked about his flat tax policy. He responded by talking about his plan to eliminate the IRS and leave the Department of the Treasury in charge of collecting taxes. Then he launched into an attack on Trump for unrealistic ideas and supporting Democrats in the past. Failure to answer: Since the debate was happening in Detroit, Cruz was asked what he would do to bring back manufacturing jobs and train workers in Michigan. Cruz had lots of ideas on how to change tax and trade policy to encourage companies to come back, but he did not answer the job training question. |
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Marco Rubio - Delegate Total: 110
1 penalty
Failure to answer: Marco Rubio was asked how many jobs he had created in his lifetime and how that compared to the tens of thousands of jobs Donald Trump had created in his various businesses. Rubio pivoted to his favorite topic of the night and attacked Trump for making clothing overseas, and attacked the Democrats for believing that the government can create jobs. |
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John Kasich - Current Delegates: 25
2 penalties
Failure to stay on topic: John Kasich was asked about his position on raising the federal minimum wage. He said that it should be left to the states to decide, and then launched into a lengthy discussion of his resume of balancing budgets and paying down debt. Failure to answer: Kasich was asked about an ad he released suggesting that Trump might appoint Vladimir Putin as his vice president. Kasich refused to answer by saying “I’m not biting. Let me take you around the world, ok?” With that, he talked about Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, China and cyber warfare, and about how ISIS should be confronted by Arab allies. These were substantive responses to questions that were never asked. |
The Penalties
With the NBA season heating up, we've instituted some new basketball rules for the debate.
Candidates can receive a foul for the following infractions:
Candidates can receive a foul for the following infractions:
- Failing to answer a question
- Failing to stay on topic
- Candidates can receive a technical foul by comparing their opponents to the Nazis.
- Nazi comparisons are lazy. If you'd like to compare Donald Trump's ban on Muslims entering the country to a historical precedent, why not try McCarthyism, or the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, or the Jim Crow south? Instead, people always grab the low-hanging fruit of the Nazis to make their point.
- Nazi comparisons ignore the fact that there are still Nazi parties alive and well in many countries. They have not receded to the dustbin of history and currently have at least one member sitting on the European Parliament.
- This is a debate. And nothing shuts down a debate faster than a Nazi comparison. It is our strong opinion that such comparisons send all parties to the barricades and prevent anyone from actually communicating. Disagree strongly, and make your case the best you can, but leave the Nazi metaphors at home, please.