Milbank: Republican candidates would rather gripe than debate

At the debate itself, the grievances tumbled forth in bulk.

CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla asked Ted Cruz a question about the debt limit. Cruz’s reply? “The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media.” (There had already been several questions about taxes.) “How about talking about the substantive issues the people care about?” Cruz asked, citing “fawning” questions at the Democratic debate.

Cruz used up his time without saying anything about the debt limit, and when the moderators moved on, he complained: “You don’t want to hear the answer.”

The constant carping is not without purpose: It avoids the need to engage deeply in substance. When the subject did turn to substance, there was trouble, as when CNBC’s Becky Quick asked Carson to explain his tax plan, based on a 10 percent to 15 percent flat tax (Carson hasn’t decided) that would force at least a 40 percent cut in government.

“That’s not true,” Carson said, without evidence. “That is true. I looked at the numbers,” Quick informed him. “When we put all the facts down, you’ll be able to see that it’s not true. It works out very well,” Carson said.

Kasich pointed out the obvious: “This stuff is fantasy.”

“Folks, we’ve got to wake up,” Kasich said, arguing that Trump’s immigration proposals — deport 11 million people — are equally fantastic. Trump’s substantive response to Kasich? “His poll numbers tanked … and he got nasty.”

Some genuine substance

There was genuine substance over the two hours, but when in doubt the candidates defaulted to complaining about the referee. When Quick pointedly asked Rubio about his personal financial troubles, Rubio responded, “You just listed a litany of discredited attacks from Democrats and my political opponents, and I’m not going to waste 60 seconds detailing them all.”

Quintanilla asked Carson, now the front-runner, about his 10-year involvement with a controversial nutritional supplement company. “I didn’t have an involvement,” Carson said. “That is total propaganda, and this is what happens in our society: Total propaganda.” Quintanilla noted that Carson was on the company home page.

When Harwood interrupted Chris Christie to clarify his answer about energy, Christie told Harwood he was “rude.” When talk turned to immigration, Trump groused about “these nasty and ridiculous questions.” On the topic of Trump’s “moral authority,” Trump said, “Such a nasty question.”

Even in his closing statement, Trump complained about “these folks at CNBC” who wanted a “three and a half”-hour debate. “Just for the record,” Harwood said, “the debate was always going to be two hours.”

Minutes after the debate ended, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted that “CNBC should be ashamed of how this debate was handled.”

But how about his petulant would-be presidents?