{"id":1992840,"date":"2023-08-07T05:10:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T09:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-debates-can-be-make-or-break-for-candidates\/"},"modified":"2023-08-07T05:12:11","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T09:12:11","slug":"how-debates-can-be-make-or-break-for-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-debates-can-be-make-or-break-for-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Debates: The ultimate game-changer for candidates."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-debates-can-be-make-or-break-for-candidates%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1992840&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The High Stakes\u2062 of Primary Debates: Three Moments\u200b That Shaped Campaigns<\/h2>\n<p>The first \u200bRepublican presidential debate is just a few weeks away, and it&#8217;s a pivotal moment \u200cthat can make or break a campaign\u2062 in the\u2064 2024 race. Throughout history, we&#8217;ve seen\u2062 candidates stumble under the intense scrutiny of the \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-isnt-the-problem-the-democrat-party-is\/\" title=\"Biden Isn\u2019t The Problem, The Democrat Party Is\">primary debate stage<\/a>. Let&#8217;s \u200btake\u200c a\u200b closer look \u200dat three instances where a \u2063poor performance or \u200ba critical moment cost them dearly in the \u2063primary \u2062contest.<\/p>\n<h3>2012 Republican \u200cPrimary Debates<\/h3>\n<p>In the 2012\u200b Republican presidential primaries, then-Texas Gov.\u2062 Rick Perry faced a series of stumbling blocks. However, \u2062it was a debate in November 2011 that \u2062sealed\u2064 his campaign&#8217;s fate.<\/p>\n<p>During the\u2063 debate, Perry confidently stated that\u2064 he would abolish three government agencies if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-biden-knows-he-messed-up-on-fracking-at-debate-and-is-now-doing-damage-control-the-daily-wire\/\" title=\"Joe Biden Knows He Messed Up On Fracking At Debate And Is Now Doing Damage Control | The Daily Wire\">elected president<\/a>. He \u200dnamed\u2064 the Department of Commerce and the Department of Education but\u200d struggled to remember the third agency.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;And \u2064I \u200dwill tell \u2062you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are\u2063 gone. Commerce,\u200b Education, and the&#8230; what&#8217;s\u2063 the third\u200c one there? Let&#8217;s see,&#8221; Perry said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney playfully suggested the Environmental Protection\u2064 Agency as the third \u2063agency, but Perry\u200b admitted\u2062 it wasn&#8217;t correct. Perry&#8217;s inability \u2062to recall the third agency became a defining \u200cmoment.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t. The third one, I can&#8217;t. Sorry. Oops,&#8221; Perry said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Perry&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-officials-felt-relief-when-supreme-court-forced-admin-to-reinstate-trump-immigration-policy-nyt-reports\/\" title=\"Biden Officials Felt \u2018Relief\u2019 When Supreme Court Forced Admin To Reinstate Trump Immigration Policy, NYT Reports\">declining poll numbers<\/a> took \u2062a further\u200b hit,\u2064 and he dropped out of the primary race in January 2012. Ironically, he would later be appointed as Secretary of the Department of Energy, the very \u200bagency he had wanted to abolish.<\/p>\n<h3>2016 Republican Primary Debates<\/h3>\n<p>In\u200b the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Sen. Marco Rubio faced his own challenges during a crucial debate.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio, who had\u200d gained momentum after a \u200bstrong\u2064 third-place finish in the Iowa Caucuses, entered the New Hampshire debate\u2062 with\u200d high hopes. However, it was one\u200c line that \u200drepeatedly tripped him up.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about\u2062 his\u200b readiness to become president, Rubio responded with a\u2064 biting line about\u2062 then-President Barack\u200d Obama: &#8220;Let&#8217;s dispel once and for all with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn&#8217;t know what he&#8217;s doing. He knows exactly what he&#8217;s doing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie seized the opportunity to attack Rubio&#8217;s \u2064lack of experience, using Obama as an \u2062example. Rubio, in \u200bturn, used the same\u2064 line in his response, leading Christie to call it out.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;There it is. There it is.\u200c The\u2062 memorized \u206325-second speech. There it is,\u2063 everybody,&#8221; Christie said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Rubio&#8217;s reliance on rehearsed lines\u2062 became the main \u2062takeaway from the debate, and he\u200d eventually dropped out of the race\u200c in March after disappointing finishes, including a loss in\u2064 his home state.<\/p>\n<h3>2020 Democratic Primary \u200cDebates<\/h3>\n<p>In the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, then-California \u200cSen. Kamala Harris was a strong contender until\u2062 a pivotal\u200d debate in July 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Harris had gained momentum \u2064after \u200da powerful exchange with former Vice President Joe Biden\u2062 in a previous \u200bdebate. However, during the July 31 debate, she found herself on the defensive against then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.<\/p>\n<p>Gabbard called out Harris&#8217;s\u200d alleged hypocrisy on marijuana \u200bpolicy and criticized her \u200brecord as California Attorney General.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cShe\u200b put \u200bover 1,500 people in jail for \u2063marijuana violations and laughed about \u2063it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana. She blocked evidence that\u200c would have freed an innocent man from death row\u2062 until\u2063 the courts forced her to\u200c do \u2064so. She kept people\u200b in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor \u200bfor the state of California, and she fought to keep \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-debates-can-be-make-or-break-for-candidates\/\" title=\"Debates: The ultimate game-changer for candidates.\">cash bail \u2063system<\/a> in place\u200c that impacts poor people\u200b in the worst kind of\u2062 way,&#8221; Gabbard said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While Harris defended\u2063 her record, Gabbard&#8217;s critique left a lasting impact on Democratic voters, and\u200b Harris&#8217;s poll numbers\u2064 declined. She eventually dropped \u2064out\u200d before \u200dthe Iowa Caucuses but later became Joe Biden&#8217;s running mate and was \u200delected Vice President in\u2063 November 2020.<\/p>\n<p>The first \u2064Republican debate is scheduled for August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and will be televised by Fox News Channel. While several Republican candidates have \u2063confirmed their attendance, former President Donald Trump&#8217;s participation remains\u200b uncertain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The upcoming Republican presidential debate is crucial for the 2024 campaign. It can make or break campaigns, as past debates have exposed candidates&#8217; weaknesses. Let&#8217;s examine three instances where candidates stumbled on the primary debate stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1992841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1992840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1992840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1992841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1992840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1992840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1992840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}