BARRINGTON, N.H. — The raucous field of Republican presidential candidates hustled back before voters Friday, hoping to build on momentum from their first meeting of the 2016 campaign, clean up any debate-night messes or just get back to work persuading voters.
Jeb Bush, among the rivals scrambling for notice in a campaign dominated at the moment by Donald Trump, played down the importance of Trump’s performance, which drew a mix of cheers and jeers during the freewheeling 120 minutes Thursday night.
“I had fun last night,” the former Florida governor said during a New Hampshire event that drew more than 300. “I really enjoyed getting to know Donald Trump up close and personal.”
Bush bounded back on the campaign trail Friday in the format he prefers, an open-ended question-answer forum — not the 10-way debate, which he called “not easy.”
With billionaire businessman Trump showing no signs of letting up, and none of the other 16 major Republicans in the race ready to concede anything after just one debate, the contest for the Republican nomination is an unsettled affair that’s just getting started.
“Party donors, party leaders need to take a deep breath, put down the sharp objects, step away from the window,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said at the RedState Gathering of conservative activists in Atlanta. “The voters will decide who our nominee is. They’ll decide who the president is.”
And the voters seem to be loving the show.
Most-watched Fox program
Thursday night’s debate wasn’t just the most-watched program in the history of Fox News Channel, it drew more than twice as many views as the previous record-setter — the 2012 election night.
Undoubtedly, the reason for the record ratings was Trump.
He was back on TV Friday morning, telling the morning talk shows he couldn’t recall insulting women in the past — rejecting the premise of a debate question posed by Fox News’ Megyn Kelly.
“You know, some of the statements she made about the women, I don’t recognize those words whatsoever,” Trump said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” ”We’re going to take a very serious look at it.”
Trump’s Twitter feed is sprinkled with insults to women — and some men — that use words such as “dog,” ”ugly,” ”dumb,” ”stupid” and “disgusting.” Early Friday, he also republished a tweet that referred to Kelly as a “bimbo.”
That dust-up, and Trump’s refusal to say he would support the eventual GOP nominee if he’s not the party’s choice, earned him the top headlines from the debate.
But for all the attention on Trump, Bush said Friday the criticism lobbed at him by Democrats shows he is the candidate they fear most.
“I’ll take that as a badge of honor,” he said.
While Bush was thinking about the general election, many of the contenders headed for RedState to work on shoring up their support among the party base.
