Hillary on defense in the first Democratic debate: Clinton fends off questions about her scandals - but then gets Bernie Sanders to defend HER email mess by the end of the night 

  • 'I have had no scandals. I am honest ... I have high ethical standards,' former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee said, hammering Hillary 
  • 'The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damned emails!' Bernie Sanders boomed to applause 
  • Chafee says emails point to 'an issue of American credibility ... we need somebody who has the best ethical standards to be our next president'
  • Asked if she wanted to respond, a grinning Clinton earned cheers by responding: 'No' 
  • Debate led off with a video message from President Obama and a montage of his signature achievements, featuring Joe Biden but not Hillary
  • See our full coverage of the Democratic presidential primary  

Hillary Clinton found herself on defense within the first minutes of Tuesday night's inaugural Democratic presidential primary debate, with one opponent hurling punches at her from the margins of a Las Vegas stage and another defending her to loud cheers.

'I have had no scandals. I am honest ... I have high ethical standards,' former Rhode Island governor and senator Lincoln Chafee said in his opening statement.

That was a clear reference to Clinton's dozens of scandals going back to her husband's years as president and Arkansas governor, most recently her email troubles involving classified material lodged on her private home-brew server.

By the event's midway point, she had her most vocal challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders, defending her in a moment of politically odd party unity.

Clinton said she had made her peace with the mistake she made by hosting her own emails, but charged that the congressional committee investigating her was a witch-hunt.

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LINCOLN CHAFEE: 'I have had no scandals. I am honest ... We need somebody who has the best ethical standards to be our next president'

LINCOLN CHAFEE: 'I have had no scandals. I am honest ... We need somebody who has the best ethical standards to be our next president'

BERNIE SANDERS: ''The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damned emails!'

BERNIE SANDERS: ''The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damned emails!'

DONALD TRUMP: 'The hardest thing Clinton has to do is defend her bad decision making'

DONALD TRUMP: 'The hardest thing Clinton has to do is defend her bad decision making'

'It is a partisan vehicle, as admitted by the House Republican Majority Leader, Mr. McCathy, to drive down my poll numbers. Big surprise!' she complained.

But 'I am still standing.'

Clinton said she agreed with President Barack Obama, who declared Sunday on '60 Minutes' that the heartburn-inducing email episode was a 'legitimate' area of inquiry. But 'I have answered all the questions,' she insisted.

WHO WON? NOBODY? 

Hillary Clinton held her own on Tuesday, bringing a loose debating style to Las Vegas and fending off tough questions from CNN's moderators. The night was hers to lose, and she didn't lose it. Clinton did raise eyebrows by dodging a question about the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.

Bernie Sanders played to his base, far-left Democrats and socialists, and made himself the beau of the ball by siding with Clinton on her classified email scandal. He hammered home his policy preferences on jobs, big banks and campaign financing, likely reinforcing the grassroots advantage he has among the Democrats' rank-and-file.

Martin O'Malley found it tough to distinguish himself but landed a few blows against Sanders on gun control and claimed the prime space among the weaker second tier. His low point came in being forced to defend policies he put in place during his time as Baltimore's mayor – some of which were cited as contributing factors in the death of Freddie Gray and the race riots that followed.

Lincoln Chafee was the night's gadfly and did himself few favors. As with the moment in his campaign launch's speech that focused on embracing the metric system, his focus was often scattered and his gaffes were several. Chafee will be remembered for excusing a Senate vote he now regrets – a repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated investment and commercial banking – by saying that it was his first legislative vote and he had just been appointed to the Senate after his father's death.

Jim Webb offered little to recommend him to Democrats, but at moments seemed far more like a crossover Republican. He spent much of his time in the spotlight arguing that he hadn't been given enough time.  

'This committee has spend $4.5 million of taxpayer money.'

Sanders, who has been the most consistent threat to Clinton in the Democratic polls, rushed to her defense.

'I think the secretary's right,' he said.

'The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damned emails!'

'Thank you!' Clinton replied. 'Me too! Me too!' 

Claiming that 'the middle class in this country is collapsing,' Sanders shouted: 'Enough of the emails! Let's talk about the real issues facing America!'

That brought a partisan crowd to its feet, taking much of the chill off of Clinton's first mainstage debate performance of the year.

Chafee wasn't done, harping on the email scandal as 'an issue of American credibility' for voters to arbitrate.

'We need somebody who has the best ethical standards to be our next president,' he said, glaring at Clinton.

Asked if she wanted to respond, a grinning Hillary earned more cheers by responding: 'No.'

Sanders mostly focused his attention on Republicans, not on Clinton, bemoaning income inequality, racial imbalances in prison populations, and other policy problems where there is little daylight between Clinton and the rest of the field.

'Our campaign finance system is corrupt and is undermining American democracy,' he said.

'Climate change is real, it is caused by human activity,' he added.

Clinton focused over and over on her resume, ticking off a list of offices including first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, and leaning heavily on 'looking for ways to even the odds' for lower-income Americans.

'At the center of my campaign is how we're going to raise wages,' she said, insisting that a second Clinton presidency would ensure 'companies share profits with the workers who helped to make them.'

The former first lady was accompanied to the Sin City by her equally famous husband, Bill, but he didn't sit in the audience where cameras might have caught his facial reactions

The former first lady was accompanied to the Sin City by her equally famous husband, Bill, but he didn't sit in the audience where cameras might have caught his facial reactions

HARD DAY'S NIGHT: CNN debate moderator Anderson Cooper started the night by asking Hillary Clinton if she changes her positions based on who she's talking to 

HARD DAY'S NIGHT: CNN debate moderator Anderson Cooper started the night by asking Hillary Clinton if she changes her positions based on who she's talking to 

 

Gun control and questions about Sanders' self-professed 'socialism' left the first marks on the evening, courtesy of Clinton.

'We are not Denmark,' she said, jabbing at a European nation Sanders has said is worthy of imitation.

'I love Denmark, but we are the United States of America.'

Asked if Sanders was tough enough on guns, she shot back: 'No. Not at all.'

'It’s time the entire country stands up to the NRA,' she said of the National Rifle Association, as Democrats in the audience applauded.

Sanders, she recalled, once cast a Senate vote against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, a background-check and purchase-delay measure passed in 1993.

The debate led off with a brief video message from President Barack Obama and a montage of his signature achievements. 

SIDESHOW OR THE MAIN EVENT? Donald Trump live-tweeted the Democratic debate for his more than 4 million followers

SIDESHOW OR THE MAIN EVENT? Donald Trump live-tweeted the Democratic debate for his more than 4 million followers

LINEUP: Compared with the field of 15 Republicans, the Democrats' presidential bench – Jim Webb, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chafee – is stark in its shallowness

LINEUP: Compared with the field of 15 Republicans, the Democrats' presidential bench – Jim Webb, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chafee – is stark in its shallowness

Vice President Joe Biden made three appearances in the video, compared to zero for Clinton – a subtle sign that the White House might prefer to see its second-banana in charge instead of the woman Obama battled viciously eight years ago.

Clinton took pains on Tuesday night to align herself with Obama's foreign policy, fending off doubts about her 2002 Senate vote to use military force in Iraq by pointing out that the president subsequently chose her as his top diplomat.

'He valued my judgment,' she said.

But cheers went up in the Las Vegas debate hall at the mention of Biden's name during Obama's video.

He was the shadowy sixth participant in the event, an undeclared potential candidate whose participation was such a question mark that CNN brought a spare podium in case he jumped into the race at the last minute.

But a Biden spokesman advised beforehand that he would 'host a high school reunion following which he will watch the Democratic debate at the Naval Observatory.'

When the Democratic Party's major Oval Office candidates gathered at the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas for their first fight night of the 2016 election, the cameras – and the pressure – were mainly on Hillary Clinton as she attempts to solidify her position

When the Democratic Party's major Oval Office candidates gathered at the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas for their first fight night of the 2016 election, the cameras – and the pressure – were mainly on Hillary Clinton as she attempts to solidify her position

When the Democratic Party's major Oval Office candidates gathered at the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas for their first fight night of the 2016 election, the cameras – and the pressure – were mainly on Hillary Clinton as she attempts to solidify her position

The other unseen but heavily felt presence at the Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner whose presence at the election season's first two debates made them must-watch events nationwide.

He live-tweeted Tuesday night's entire debate, beginning with a wry observation about Russia's militarily belligerent president.

'Putin is not feeling too nervous or scared,' he wrote on Twitter.

'Get rid of all these commercials,' he added minutes later.

After Lincoln Chafee's initial upbraiding of Clinton, Trump hit out at him too: 'Can anyone imaging Chafee as president? No way,' he tweeted.

The former first lady was accompanied to the Sin City by her equally famous husband, Bill, but he didn't sit in the audience where cameras might have caught his facial reactions

The cameras – and the pressure – were decidedly on Clinton as she attempted to solidify her position as their standard-bearer.

The former first lady was accompanied to the Sin City by her equally famous husband, Bill, but he was not in the audience.

'President Clinton is there,' a spokesperson for the former world leader told Daily Mail Online. 'But, there are currently no plans for him to be at the debate.'

TRUMP VENTS: The billionaire Republican let loose on his Democratic rivals all night as they debated in Las Vegas

TRUMP VENTS: The billionaire Republican let loose on his Democratic rivals all night as they debated in Las Vegas

A Bernie Sanders billboard advertises tonight's Democratic debate in Las Vegas, the first of six debates scheduled

A Bernie Sanders billboard advertises tonight's Democratic debate in Las Vegas, the first of six debates scheduled

'I AM HONEST!': Rhode Island's former governor Lincoln Chafee, the ultimate long-shot candidate (right), was the first to challenge Clinton directly on Tuesday 

'I AM HONEST!': Rhode Island's former governor Lincoln Chafee, the ultimate long-shot candidate (right), was the first to challenge Clinton directly on Tuesday 

Instead, according to the Clinton campaign's director of communications Jennifer Palmieri, the former president was watching the debate on television.

Tomorrow Bill Clinton is scheduled to be in Connecticut, headlining a fundraiser with that state's governor, Dannel Malloy, for his wife. That could be a contributing factor to his no-show tonight, but his office wouldn't say.

The Clintons' daughter Chelsea wasn't on hand tonight, either. She's touring with her book, 'It’s Your World,' and was in New Orleans.

'Our fundamental goal coming out of the debate is to lay out why Hillary Clinton is running for president — who she’ll fight for, what she’ll do as president to address the issues that matter most to our country and to American families,' Clinton spokeswoman Christina Reynolds told Politico. 

Clinton has tried on two other occasions, in a launch video and at a launch rally two months later, to explain to voters why they should pick her to be president this time around after passing on her seven years ago.

And this time, she's doing it in the midst of an email scandal that has dominated national discussions on her candidacy, if not day-to-day conversations with potential supporters at her events.

Many Democratic voters - including those who are supporting Sanders or someone else - have said they do not believe Clinton broke the law in keeping her State Department email on a private server.

They believe Clinton when she says she did nothing wrong and agree with her claims that Republicans are blowing the whole thing out of proportion to kill her campaign.

At the same time, likely Democratic voters have repeatedly noted that Clinton's 'baggage' concerns them, and Republicans will not cease with their attacks on her character until they've successfully prevented her from becoming president.

For Sanders supporters, Clinton's emails are typically not the problem, though. It's her ties to Wall Street, big banks and the large corporations that have lined her pockets over the years.

They also believe she's a Johnny-come-lately on key progressive issues such as trade and college affordability.

No Joe? CNN built a podium for him just in case, but the White House indicated Monday night that they wouldn't need it. Biden, it said, would be in meetings all day Tuesday at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

No Joe? CNN built a podium for him just in case, but the White House indicated Monday night that they wouldn't need it. Biden, it said, would be in meetings all day Tuesday at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Months after Sanders and O'Malley announced their opposition to the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership she helped negotiate as secretary of state, Clinton said she too couldn't support it, based on what she's 'seen' since she left the administration. 

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley hit the gym while he prepped for tonight's debate where he'll nicely knock Hillary Clinton for her changing positions on things like the TPP

And after both released college affordability plans, Clinton came a-knocking, too.

Mike Briggs, a spokesperson for Sanders, also noted in an interview with Politico that unlike Clinton, his candidate 'opposed the Patriot Act, the war in Iraq, the Defense of Marriage Act, don’t ask, don’t tell.'

Sanders, discussing the debate with reporters last week in Washington, said he wasn't a candidate who believed in personal attacks, but he would be tackling the issues.

'What I think democracy is about and what I think debates are about is in fact differentiating the differences of opinions that we have,' Sanders said. 'That's called democracy, that's a good thing, and I look forward to a vigorous debate on the issues facing this country.'

O'Malley's campaign implied in a pre-debate memo the governor would hit Clinton when some of those issues she's changed positions on come up as well.

'The American people want a president who will lead, not just tell them what they want to hear, or what polls best,' Deputy Campaign Manager Lis Smith said. 'That’s why tonight offers a unique opportunity for Governor O’Malley to introduce himself to the American people.'

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley hit the gym while he prepped for tonight's debate where he'll nicely knock Hillary Clinton for her changing positions on things like the TPP 

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley hit the gym while he prepped for tonight's debate where he'll nicely knock Hillary Clinton for her changing positions on things like the TPP 

O'Malley used similar phrasing when he unveiled his debate plans to reporters last week.

'Leadership is not putting a finger to the wind and waiting for the polls to tell you it's safe to do so,' O'Malley said.

He also agreed that Clinton being questioned about the email scandal is fair game.

'People are going to ask whatever they're going to ask,' he said.

O'Malley also differentiated himself from his Democratic peers by sending out a Snapchat showcasing part of his debate prep – doing planks at the gym.

When asked about it, the former Maryland governor slightly blushed.

'I guess I was conveying the message that I was preparing for the debate, that I was planking on Snapchat,' he began.

'I try to make sure - healthy mind, healthy body, I try to get to the gym as often as I can,' O'Malley said. 'And they fortunately gave me a little time to do that in Las Vegas.'

THE 2016 FIELD: WHO'S IN, WHO'S QUIT AND WHO'S STILL THINKING IT OVER

A whopping 20 people from America's two major political parties are candidates in the 2016 presidential election.

The field includes two women, an African-American and two Latinos. All but one in that group – Hillary Clinton – are Republicans.

At 15 candidates, the GOP field is without two early dropouts but still deeper than ever after one current and one former governor bowed out.

A few Democrats are still assessing their chances at succeeding in a much smaller group of five that includes a former secretary of state and a current senator.

DEMOCRATS IN THE RACE  

Lincoln Chafee  Former Rhode Island governor

Age on Election Day: 63

Religion:  Episcopalian                                   Base: Centrists

Résumé: Former Rhode Island governor. Former U.S. senator. Former city councilman and mayor of Warwick, RI.

Education: B.A. Brown University. Graduate, Montana State University horseshoeing school.

Family: Married to Stephanie Chafee (1990) with three children. Like him, his father John Chafee was a Rhode Island governor and US senator, but also served as Secretary of the Navy. Lincoln was appointed to his Senate seat when his father died in office.

Claim to fame: While Chafee was a Republican senator during the George W. Bush administration, he cast his party's only vote in 2002 against a resolution that authorized military action in Iraq. Hillary Clinton, also a senator then, voted in favor – giving him a point of comparison that he hopes to ride to victory.

Achilles heel: Chafee's lack of any significant party loyalty has turned allies into foes throughout his political career, and Democrats aren't sure he's entirely with them now. He was elected to the Senate as a Republican in 2000 but left the party and declared himself a political independent after losing a re-election bid in 2006. As an independent, he was elected governor in 2010. Now he's running for president as a Democrat.

 

Martin O'Malley    Former Maryland governor

Age on Election Day: 53

Religion: Catholic

Base: Centrists 

Résumé:Former Maryland governor. Former city councilor and mayor of Baltimore, MD. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Education: B.A. Catholic University of America. J.D. University of Maryland.

Family: Married to Katie Curran (1990) and they have four children. Curran is a district court judge in Baltimore. Her father is Maryland's attorney general. O'Malley's mother is a receptionists in the Capitol Hill office of Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski.

Claim to fame: O'Malley pushed for laws in Maryland legalizing same-sex marriage and giving illegal immigrants the right to pay reduced tuition rates at public universities. But he's best known for playing guitar and sung in a celtic band cammed 'O’Malley’s March.'

Achilles heel: O’Malley may struggle in the Democratic primary since he endorsed Hillary Clinton eight years ago. If he prevails, he will have to run far enough to her left to be an easy target for the GOP. He showed political weakness when his hand-picked successor lost the 2014 governor's race to a Republican. But most troubling is his link with Baltimore, whose 2016 race riots have made it a nuclear subject for politicians of all stripes.


Jim Webb      Former Virginia senator

Age on Election Day: 70

Religion: Christian (nondenominational)                             Base: War hawks and economic centrists

Résumé:Former U.S. senator from Virginia. Former U.S. Secretary of the Navy under Ronamd Reagan. Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs.

Education: B.A. US Naval Academy (transferred from the University of Southern California). J.D. Georgetown University.

Family: Married to Hong Le Webb (2005). Divorced from Jo Ann Krukar (1981-2004). Divorced from Barbara Samorajczyk (1968–1979). 

Claim to fame: Webb is the rare Democrat who can bring both robust defense credentials and a history of genuine bipartisanship to the race. He served in Republican president Ronald Reagan's defense directorate as Navy secretary, and earned both the Navy Star and the Purple Heart in combat. Webb is also seen as a quiet scholar who has written more than a half-dozen historical novels and a critically acclaimed history of Scots-Irish U.S. immigrants.

Achilles heel: Webb has a reputation as a bit of a quitter. He resigned his Navy secretary post over a budget-cut dispute just 10 months after taking the job, and he declined to run for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2006. He also attracted bad press for defending the use of the Confederate flag as a heritage symbol for American southerners. Amid a nationwide clamor to remove the flag from the South Carolina statehouse grounds, he wrote that Americans should 'respect the complicated history of the Civil War. ... Honorable Americans fought on both sides.'

Hillary Clinton Former sec. of state

Age on Election Day: 69

Religion: United Methodist 

Base: Liberals 

Résumé:Former secretary of state. Former U.S. senator from New York. Former U.S. first lady. Former Arkansas first lady. Former law school faculty, University of Arkansas Fayetteville.

Education: B.A. Wellesley College. J.D. Yale Law School.

Family: Married to Bill Clinton (1975), the 42nd President of the United States. Their daughter Chelsea is married to investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, whose mother was a 1990s one-term Pennsylvania congresswoman.

Claim to fame: Clinton was the first US first lady with a postgraduate degree and presaged Obamacare with a failed attempt at health care reform in the 1990s.

Achilles heel: A long series of financial and ethical scandals has dogged Clinton, including recent allegations that her husband and their family foundation benefited financially from decisions she made as secretary of state. Her performance surrounding the 2012 terror attack on a State Department facility in Benghazi, Libya, has been catnip for conservative Republicans. And her presidential campaign has been marked by an unwillingness to engage journalists, instead meeting with hand-picked groups of voters.

 

Bernie Sanders*  Vermont senator

Age on Election Day: 75

Religion: Jewish

Base: Far-left progressives

Résumé:U.S. senator. Former U.S. congressman. Former mayor of Burlington, VT.

Education: B.A. University of Chicago.

Family: Married to Jane O’Meara Sanders (1988), a former president of Burlington College. He has one child from a previous relationship and is stepfather to three from Mrs. Sanders' previous marriage. His brother Larry is a Green Party politician in the UK and formerly served on the Oxfordshire County Council.

Claim to fame: Sanders is an unusually blunt, and unapologetic pol, happily promoting progressivism without hedging. He is also the longest-serving 'independent' member of Congress – neither Democrat nor Republican.

Achilles heel: Sanders describes himself as a 'democratic socialist.' At a time of huge GOP electoral gains, his far-left ideas don't poll well. He favors open borders, single-payer universal health insurance, and greater government control over media ownership.

* Sanders is running as a Democrat but has no party affiliation in the Senate.


DEMOCRATS IN THE HUNT 

Joe Biden, U.S. vice president

Biden would be a natural candidate as the White House's sitting second-banana, but his reputation as a one-man gaffe factory could keep Democrats from taking him seriously.

Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts senator

Warren is a populist liberal who could give Hillary Clinton headaches by challenging her from the left, but she has said she has no plans to run and is happy in the U.S. Senate.



REPUBLICANS IN THE RACE 

Jeb Bush       Former Florida governor

Age on Election Day: 63

Religion: Catholic

Base: Moderates                

Résumé: Former Florida governor and secretary of state. Former co-chair of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

Education: B.A. University of Texas at Austin.

Family: Married to Columba Bush (1974), with three adult children. Noelle Bush has made news with her struggle with drug addiction, and related arrests. George P. Bush was elected Texas land commissioner in 2014. Jeb's father George H.W. Bush was the 41st President of the United States, and his brother George W. Bush was number 43.

Claim to fame: Jeb was an immensely popular governor with strong economic and jobs credentials. He is also one of just two GOP candidates who is fluent in Spanish.

Achilles heel: Bush has angered conservatives with his permissive positions on illegal immigration (saying some border-crossing is 'an act of love) and common-core education standards. His last name could also be a liability with voters who fear establishing a family dynasty in the White House.


Chris Christie        New Jersey governor

Age on Election Day: 54

Religion: Catholic

Base: Establishment-minded conservatives

Résumé: Governor of New Jersey. Former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Former Morris County freeholder and lobbyist.

Governor of New Jersey. Former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Former Morris County freeholder. Former statehouse lobbyist.

Education: B.A. University of Delaware, Newark, J.D. Seton Hall University.

Family: Married to Mary Pat Foster (1986) with four children.

Claim to fame: Pugnacious and unapologetic, Christie once told a heckler to 'sit down and shut up' and brings a brash style to everything he does. That includes the post-9/11 criminal prosecutions of terror suspects that made his reputation as a hard-charger.

Achilles heel: Christie is often accused of embracing an ego-driven and needlessly abrasive style. His administration continues to operate under a 'Bridgegate' cloud: At least two aides have been indicted in an alleged scheme to shut down lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge as political retribution for a mayor who refused to endorse the governor's re-election.


Carly Fiorina         Former tech CEO

Age on Election Day: 62

Religion:      Episcopalian 

Base: Conservatives

Résumé: Former CEO of Hewett-Packard. Former group president of Lucent Technologies. Former U.S. Senate candidate in California.

Education: B.A. Stanford University. UCLA School of Law (did not finish). M.B.A. University of Maryland. M.Sci. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Family: Married to Frank Fiorina (1985), with one adult step-daughter and another who is deceased. She has two step-grandchildren. Divorced from Todd Bartlem (1977-1984).

Claim to fame: Fiorina was the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company, something that could provide ammunition against the Democratic Party's drive to make Hillary Clinton the first female president. She is also the only woman in the 2016 GOP field, making her the one Republican who can't be accused of sexism.

Achilles heel: Fiorina's unceremonious firing by HP's board has led to questions about her management and leadership styles. And her only political experience has been a failed Senate bid in 2010 against Barbara Boxer.


Lindsey Graham  South Carolina senator

Age on Election Day: 61

Religion:        Southern Baptist

Base: Otherwise moderate war hawks 

Résumé: U.S. senator. Retired Air Force Reserves colonel. Former congressman. Former South Carolina state representative.

Education: B.A. University of South Carolina. J.D. University of South Carolina Law School.

Family: Never married. Raised his sister Darline after their parents died while he was a college student and she was 13.

Claim to fame: Graham is a hawk's hawk, arguing consistently for greater intervention in the Middle East, once arguing in favor of pre-emptive military strikes against Iran. His influence was credited for pushing President George W. Bush to institute the 2007 military 'surge' in Iraq.

Achilles heel: Some of his critics have taken to call him 'Grahamnesty,' citing his participating in a 2013 'gang of eight' strategy to approve an Obama-favored immigration bill. He has also aroused the ire of conservative Republicans by supporting global warming legislation and voting for some of the president's judicial nominees.


Bobby Jindal     Louisiana governor

Age on Election Day: 45

Religion: Catholic

Base: Social conservatives 

Résumé: Governor of Louisiana. Former congressman. Former Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation. Former Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

Education: B. Sci. Brown University. M.Litt. New College at Oxford University

Family: Married to Supriya Jolly (1997), with three children, each of whom has an Indian first name and an American middle name. Bobby Jindal's given name is Piyush.

Claim to fame: Jindal's main source of national attention has been his strident opposition to federal-level 'Common Core' education standards, which included a federal lawsuit that a judge dismissed in late March. He is also outspoken on the religious-freedom issues involved in mainstreaming gay marriage into the lives of American Christians.

Achilles heel: During his first term as governor, Jindal signed a science education law that requires schools to present alternatives to the theory of evolution, including religious creationism. His staunch defense of businesses that want to steer clear of providing services to same-sex couples at their weddings will win points among evangelicals but alienate others.


George Pataki      Former New York governor 

Age on Election Day: 71 

ReligionCatholic

BaseCentrists

Résumé: Former governor of New York. Former New York state senator and state assemblyman. Former mayor of Peekskill, NY.

Education: B.A. Yale University. J.D. Columbia Law School.

Family: Married to Libby Rowland (1973), with four adult children.

Claim to fame: Pataki was just the third Republican governor in New York's history, winning an improbable victory over three-term incumbent Mario Cuomo in 1994. He was known for being a rare tax-cutter in Albany and was also the sitting governor when the 9/11 terror attacks rocked New York CIty in 2001.

Achilles heel: While Pataki's liberal-leaning social agenda plays well in the Empire State, it won't win him any fans among the GOP's conservative base. He supports abortion rights and gay rights, and has advocated strongly in favor of government intervention to stop global warming, which right-wingers believe is overblown as a global threat.


Marco Rubio         Florida senator

Age on Election Day: 45

Religion:          Catholic

Base: Conservatives

Résumé: US senator, former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, former city commissioner of West Miami

Education: B.A. University of Florida. J.D. University of Miami School of Law.

Family: Married to Jeanette Dousdebes (1998), with two sons and two daughters. Jeanette is a former Miami Dolphins cheerleader who posed for the squad’s first swimsuit calendar. 

Claim to fame: Rubio's personal story as the son of Cuban emigres is a powerful narrative, and helped him win his Senate seat in 2010 against a well-funded governor whom he initially trailed by 20 points.

Achilles heel: Rubio was part of a bipartisan 'gang of eight' senators who crafted an Obama-approved immigration reform bill in 2013 which never became law – a move that angered conservative Republicans. And he was criticized in 2011 for publicly telling a version of his parents' flight from Cuba that turned out to appear embellished.


Donald Trump     Real estate developer

Age on Election Day: 70

Religion:     Presbyterian 

Base: Conservatives   

Résumé: Chairman of The Trump Organization. Fixture on the Forbes 400 list of the world's richest people. Star of 'Celebrity Apprentice.'

Education: B.Sci. Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Family: Married to Melania Trump (2005). Divorced from Ivana Zelníčková (1977-92) and Marla Maples(1993–99). Five grown children. Trump's father Fred Trump amassed a $400 million fortune developing real estate.

Claim to fame: Trump's niche in the 2016 campaign stems from his celebrity as a reality-show host and his enormous wealth – more than $10 billion, according to Trump. Because he can self-fund an entire presidential campaign, he is seen as less beholden to donors than other candidates. He has grabbed the attention of reporters and commentators by unapologetically staking out controversial positions and refusing to budge in the face of criticism.

Achilles heel: Trump is a political neophyte who has toyed with running for president and for governor of New York, but shied away from taking the plunge until now. His billions also have the potential to alienate large swaths of the electorate. And his Republican rivals have labeled him an ego-driven celeb and an electoral sideshow because of his all-over-the-map policy history – much of which agreed with today's today's democrats – and his past enthusiasm for anti-Obama 'birtherism.'

Ben Carson       Retired Physician

Age on Election Day: 65

Religion:              Seventh-day Adventist

Base: Evangelicals

Résumé: Famous pediatric neurosurgeon, youngest person to head a major Johns Hopkins Hospital division. Founder of the Carson Scholars Fund, which awards scholarships to children of good character.

Education: B.A. Yale University. M.D. University of Michigan Medical School.

Family: Married to Candy Carson (1975), with three adult sons. The Carsons live in Maryland with Ben's elderly mother Sonya, who was a seminal influence on his life and development. 

Claim to fame: Carson spoke at a National Prayer Breakfast in 2013, railing against political correctness and condemned Obamacare – with President Obama sitting just a few feet away.

Achilles heel: Carson is inflexibly conservative, opposing gay marriage and once saying gay attachments formed in prison provided evidence that sexual orientation is a choice.


Ted Cruz            Texas senator

Age on Election Day: 45

Religion:         Southern Baptist

Base: Tea partiers

Résumé:U.S. senator. Former Texas solicitor general. Former U.S. Supreme Court clerk. Former associate deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush.

Education: B.A. Princeton University. J.D. Harvard Law School.

Family: Married to Heidi Nelson Cruz (2001), with two young daughters. His father is a preacher and he has two half-sisters.

Claim to fame: Cruz spoke on the Senate floor for more than 21 hours in September 2013 to protest the inclusion of funding for Obamacare in a federal budget bill. (The bill moved forward as written.) He has called for the complete repeal of the medical insurance overhaul law, and also for a dismantling of the Internal Revenue Service. Cruz is also outspoken about border security.

Achilles heel: Cruz's father Rafael, a Texas preacher, is a tea party firebrand who has said gay marriage is a government conspiracy and called President Barack Obama a Marxist who should 'go back to Kenya.' Cruz himself also has a reputation as a take-no-prisoners Christian evangelical, which might play well in South Carolina but won't win him points in the other early primary states and could cost him momentum if he should be the GOP's presidential nominee.


Jim Gilmore     Former Virginia governor

Age on Election Day: 67

Religion: United Methodist

    Base: Conservatives

Résumé: Former governor and attorney general of Virginia. Former chairman of the Republican National Committee. Former U.S. Army intelligence agent. President and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation. Board member of the National Rifle Association

Education: B.A. University of Virginia.

Family: Married to Roxane Gatling Gilmore (1977), with two adult children. Mrs. GIlmore is a survivor of Hodgkin's lymphoma

Claim to fame: Gilmore presided over Virginia when the 9/11 terrorists struck in 1991, guiding the state through a difficult economic downturn after one of the hijacked airliners crashed into the Pentagon. He is nest known in Virginia for eliminating most of a much-maligned personal property tax on automobiles, working with a Democratic-controlled state legislature to get it passed and enacted.

Achilles heel: Gilmore is the only GOP or Democratic candidate for president who has been the chairman of his political party, giving him a rap as an 'establishment' candidate. A social-conservative crusader, he is loathed by the left for championing the state law that established 24-hour waiting periods for abortions. Gilmore also has a reputation as an indecisive campaigner, having dropped out of the 2008 presidential race in July 2007. 


Mike Huckabee     Former Arkansas governor

Age on Election Day: 61

Religion: Southern Baptist 

Base: Evangelicals

Résumé: Former governor and lieutenant governor of Arkansas. Former Fox News Channel host. Ordained minister and author.

Education: B.A. Ouachita Baptist University. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (did not finish). 

Family: Married to Janet Huckabee (1974), with three adult children. Mrs. Huckabee is a survivor of spinal cancer.

Claim to fame: 'Huck' is a political veteran and has run for president before, winning the Iowa Caucuses in 2008 and finishing second for the GOP nomination behind John McCain. He's known as an affable Christian and succeeded in building a huge following on his weekend television program, in which he frequently sat in on the electric bass with country & western groups and other 'wholesome' musical entertainers.

Achilles heel: Huckabee may have a problem with female voters. He complained in 2014 about Obamacare's mandatory contraception coverage, saying Democrats want women to 'believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar.' He earned more scorn for hawking herbal supplements in early-2015 infomercials as a diabetes cure, something he has yet to disavow despite disagreement from medical experts.


John Kasich       Ohio governor 

Age on Election Day: 64 

ReligionAnglican

BaseCentrists 

Résumé: Governor of New York. Former chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee. Former Ohio congressman. Former Ohio state senator.

Education: B.A. The Ohio State University.

Family: Married to Karen Waldbillig (1997). Divorced from Mary Lee Griffith (1975-1980).

Claim to fame: Kasich was Ohio youngest-ever member of the state legislature at age 25. He's known for a compassionate and working-class sensibility that appeals to both ends of the political spectrum. In the 1990s when Newt Gingrich led a Republican revolution that took over Congress, Kasich became the chairman of the House Budget Committee – a position for a wonk's wonk who understands the nuanced intricacies of how government runs.

Achilles heel: Some of Kasich's political positions rankle conservatives, including his choice to expand Ohio's Medicare system under the Obamacare law, and his support for the much-derided 'Common Core' education standards program. 

 

Rand Paul      Kentucky senator

Age on Election Day: 53

Religion: Presbyterian 

Base: Libertarians 

Résumé: US senator. Board-certified ophthalmologist. Former congressional campaign manager for his father Ron Paul.

Education: Baylor University (did not finish). M.D. Duke University School of Medicine.

Family: Married to Kelley Ashby (1990), with three sons. His father is a former Texas congressman who ran for president three times but never got close to grabbing the brass ring.

Claim to fame: Paul embraces positions that are at odds with most in the GOP, including an anti-interventionist foreign policy, reduced military spending, criminal drug sentencing reform for African-Americans and strict limits on government electronic surveillance – including a clampdown on the National Security Agency.

Achilles heel: Paul's politics are aligned with those of his father, whom mainstream GOPers saw as kooky. Both Pauls have advocated for a brand of libertarianism that forces government to stop domestic surveillance programs and limits foreign military interventions.


Rick Santorum     Former Penn. senator

Age on Election Day: 58

Religion: Catholic

Base: Evangelicals 

Résumé: Former US senator and former member of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Former lobbyist who represented World Wrestling Entertainment.

Education: B.A. Penn State University. M.B.A. University of Pittsburgh. J.D. Penn State University Dickinson School of Law.

Family: Married to Karen Santorum (1990), with seven living children. One baby was stillborn in 1996. Another, named Isabella, is a special needs child with a genetic disorder.

Claim to fame: Santorum won the 2012 Republican Iowa Caucuses by a nose. He won by visiting all of Iowa's 99 states in a pickup truck belonging to his state campaign director, a consultant who now worls for Donald Trump.

Achilles heel: As a young lobbyist, Santorum persuaded the federal government to exempt pro wrestling from regulations governing the use of anabolic steroids. And the stridently conservative politician has attracted strong opposition from gay rights groups. One gay columnist held a contest to redefine his name, buying the 'santorum.com' domain to advertise the winning entry – which is too vulgar to print.

 

REPUBLICAN DROPOUTS

Rick Perry, former Texas governor

     (withdrew Sept. 11, 2015)

Scott Walker, Wisconsin governor

     (withdrew Sept. 21, 2015)

 

 

 

 

 

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