Main GOP debate focused on economy, defeating Clinton

A smaller cast of candidates faces off Tuesday night in the Republicans' fourth presidential debate, with mild-mannered retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson pledging to push back aggressively if challenged on the veracity of his celebrated personal story. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is expecting more confrontation, too, from rivals trying to block his momentum.

The debate, the last for the GOP until mid-December, could help shape the course of the campaign into the winter as voters begin to pay more attention to the White House race. After a furor over moderators' aggressive tone in the last debate, Tuesday's hosts from Fox Business News allowed the eight candidates to deliver lengthy, uninterrupted answers and avoided attempts to get them to engage with one another.

The Milwaukee event began with Republication candidates drawing a sharp contrast with Democrats as they voiced opposition to raising the federal minimum wage, casting it as an impediment to national job growth.

"If you raise the minimum, you're going to make people more expensive than a machine," Rubio said.

Billionaire DonaldTrump concurred. "We cannot do this if we're going to compete with the rest of the world," he said, adding, American wages are too high.

Carson agreed, saying, "People need to be educated on the minimum wage." He added that every time it is increased, unemployment goes up.

Carson says he appreciated having worked as a lab assistant early in life, and said the experience was worth more to him than was reflected in the wage.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has called for raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $12. Her chief rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has backed an increase to $15. Earlier in the day, fast-food workers and others in the service industry had launched coordinated protests nationwide, calling for union organizing rights and a minimum wage of $15 an hour, which they say they need to survive.

Rubio blamed the American economy and education system for failing to provide jobs that pay well. The answer, he says, is to reform taxes, ease the way for businesses and make higher education more accessible, particularly for vocational training.

Rubio says: "Welders make more money than philosophers. We need more welders and less philosophers."

However, PayScale, a firm that analyzes compensation, put the median mid-career income for philosophy majors at $81,200 in 2008, with welders making $26,002 to $63,698, and Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce said in a 2014 analysis that median incomes were $68,000 for people with an advanced degree in philosophy or religious studies.

The need for lower taxes and a simpler tax code drew comment from the candidates. 

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz  touted his plan for a 10 percent flat personal income tax and a 16 percent business tax during the fourth Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee. He calls his proposal "bold and simple."

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul also argued for a flat tax seeks a 14.5 percent flat tax.

Paul says he wants a government that's "really, really small, so small you can barely see it. I want more money in the private sector."

Cruz seeks a 10 percent flat tax, so "no longer do you have hedge fund billionaires paying less than their secretaries." He also wants to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service, as well as the estate tax and payroll taxes.

Republicans Jeb Bush and Carson sought to steady their presidential campaigns in Tuesday night's GOP debate, with Bush taking advantage of a policy-focused contest to detail positions on the economy and immigration while Carson swatted away mounting questions about the veracity of his celebrated biography.

"I have no problem with being vetted," said Carson, a quiet-spoken retired neurosurgeon. "What I do have a problem with is being lied about."

Bush entered the debate in a precarious position, desperate to ease the anxiety of donors and other supporters. While it's unclear if his competent performance Tuesday night will be enough to reset his campaign, he highlighted his fluency on domestic policy issues and described himself as best prepared to take on Clinton in a general election.

In one of the night's notable exchanges, Bush stood by his call for allowing some people living in the U.S. illegally to find a path to legal status, criticizing billionaire Donald Trump's call for mass deportations as an impractical plan that would hand Democrats a talking point as they seek to appeal to Hispanic voters.

"They're doing high fives in the Clinton campaign when they're hearing this," said Bush, the former Florida governor.

Bush avoided tangling with fellow Floridian Rubio, a shift in strategy after his poor performance in the last debate. Rubio had another strong performance, sticking to his strategy of weaving his own compelling personal story into his policy discussions and taking an aggressive stance on foreign policy.

Still, Rubio faced criticism from some rivals, most notably Paul, about whether he's a true conservative given his calls for a child tax care credit and increased military spending.

"We can't even have an economy if we're not safe," said Rubio, a first-term senator enjoying recent momentum for his White House bid.

Rubio's call for more military spending was backed by Trump, the real estate mogul who has led the GOP field for months. While Trump has generated attention through his outspoken statements on the campaign trail, he delved into the policy discussions in Tuesday's debate, including outlining his opposition to a new Asia-Pacific trade deal supported by many Republicans.

"I love trade," Trump said. "I'm a free trader 100 percent. But we need smart people making the deals."

Trump's grip on the GOP field has been challenged in recent weeks by Carson, another outsider appealing to voters angry with Washington. As Carson has risen in preference polls, however, he has faced a flurry of questions about his biography, which has been central to his connection with voters.

While pieces of Carson's background had been challenged earlier in the campaign, the questions ballooned last week after CNN reported it could not find friends or confidants to corroborate the story, told in his widely read autobiography, of his unsuccessfully trying to stab a close friend when he was a teenager.

Later in the week, Politico examined Carson's claim of having been offered a scholarship to attend the U.S. Military Academy, and The Wall Street Journal said it could not confirm anecdotes told by Carson about his high school and college years.

Carson was cheered by the debate audience when he suggested he was facing tougher scrutiny than Clinton. But he appeared to flounder on some policy questions, including a disconnected answer about whether he would break up big banks.

Cruz repeatedly played the populist. He railed against the "Washington cartel," big government and even big banks. But in moment reminiscent of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry's "oops" debate debacle, Cruz blanked when it came to naming the five departments he would eliminate.

"The IRS, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, ah, the Department of Commerce and HUD," Cruz said.

Businesswoman Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, two lower polling candidates in search of a breakout moment, repeatedly sought to interject themselves into the discussion. Trump sought to shut Fiorina down at one point, drawing jeers from the crowd when he said, "Why does she keep interrupting everybody?"

Fox Business News moderator Maria Bartiromo ignited a chorus of boos from the Republican audience in Milwaukee by referring to Hillary Clinton's resume as "impressive."

But the veteran anchor plowed ahead with her question to Rubio about how his experience makes him worthy of the presidency.

Rubio responded that, "This election is about the future, about what kind of nation we're going to be in the 21st Century."

Cruz couldn't let an opportunity to strike at Clinton go unanswered, saying "Hillary Clinton embodies the cronyism of Washington."

Or, as moderator Neil Cavuto noted, "All right, I think it's fair to say you're not fans of Hillary Clinton's resume."

Closing statements in the main Republican debate focused on fiscal policy, the future and Clinton.

Trump said "we cannot let Hillary Clinton, who is the worst secretary of state in the history of our country, win this election." Fiorina said a "Clinton presidency will corrode the character of this nation." And Kasich said he worried about what would happen if Clinton or Bernie Sanders won the presidency.

Paul argued he was the "only fiscal conservative on stage." Cruz stressed his commitment to "free-market principles."

Rubio repeated his forward-looking message, promising a "new American century." Bush pledged to be a commander-in-chief, not a "divider-in-chief."

Carson spoke of several issues, including drug overdoses, rising debt and abortion. He said it was time to change the "narrative," adding, "there is something special about this nation and we must embrace it and be proud of it and never give it away for the sake of political correctness."

Bush had perhaps the most on the line. The brother and son of presidents, he was widely viewed as the early front-runner in the race and has raised enormous sums of money for his super PAC. But he's proved to be an awkward campaigner and has sometimes appeared out of step with a Republican electorate eager to voice its frustration with the political class.

While Bush still showed signs of nerves, he was more confident and at ease than in previous debates. When Trump at one point suggested the moderators let Bush answer a question, he responded with a tinge of sarcasm, "Thank you, Donald, for allowing me to speak at the debate. That's really nice of you. Really appreciate that."

Trump has led the field for months, defying standard political logic, while experienced governors and senators have struggled to break through. Another outsider, Carson, has been challenging Trump's grip in recent weeks. 

Missing from the lineup are New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Both were dropped from the top-tier debate with low poll numbers in national surveys, sparking criticism for the way networks hosting the debates have determined participation.

Christie and Huckabee instead appeared in an undercard debate, along with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Christie tried to cast himself as well-prepared for a general election, focusing more on Democratic front-runner Clinton than fellow Republicans.

"She believes she can make decisions for you better than you can make them for yourself," Christie said of Clinton.

Al Jazeera with The Associated Press