For the Record: Debate watch party at Lindsey Graham's house!
It's our eighth-to-last chance to catch a Republican primary debate tonight! We can't decide if we're going to watch at our house or Lindsey Graham's, or if we're even going to be able to find Fox Business Network in time for the opening statements. It's gotta be a four-digit channel number, right?
While we're page-downing our way through the cable TV guide, you can tell your friends to sign up for the For the Record newsletter; you also can follow the For the Record crew on Twitter (@jmestepa, @joannaallhands, @RGJBrettMcG) for knee-jerk reactions to the latest news, plus our futile lobbying efforts to get Firefly back on the air.
THE BADGER STATE EIGHT
The fourth GOP debate is tonight, with the overall series tied up at zero. We don't know who's going to emerge as the winner (because come on, nobody ever "wins" these) but we know who definitely won't win: Mike Huckabee and Chris Christie, who didn't meet the necessary poll numbers to stay on the main stage. Will there be more clarity and substance tonight with only eight candidates instead of 10? Hahahahahahahaha no. Well, maybe. But nope.
- Here's the primer for what you need to know ahead of time, courtesy of Paste BN OnPolitics' Cooper Allen.
- Paste BN's Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page has six things to watch for at the debate.
- The candidates are going to seek the limelight. The moderators will try to go unnoticed.
- And here's a subtle reminder that you can just catch up on the ol' DVR tonight instead, and get the For the Record recap and highlights tomorrow in your inbox.
THE MAN WHO ACTUALLY KILLED HITLER WAS AN ABSOLUTE MONSTER, THOUGH
We in the media have been asking candidates a lot of hypothetical questions: because we're still months away from voting on anything. Ben Carson was asked which historical figure he'd like to have a beer with ("Jesus Christ," he said. Or wait, maybe he was just annoyed with the question, now that we think about it.) Jimmy Kimmel asked Hillary Clinton if she would beat Bill in a head-to-head electoral matchup. Now Jeb Bush has been asked by HuffPo: If given the chance, would he kill Baby Hitler? "Hell yeah, I would," Bush said. So it seems like "Jeb Can Fix It" is really just shorthand for "Jeb Can Fix the Darkest Horrors of the 20th Century, if Given the Opportunity."
In other news, how much longer until the candidates figure out that we're out of fresh material for interviews, and we're just pulling stuff out of The Book of Questions?
JOHN AND MARCO: MFEO
So when we get tired of asking hypotheticals, we start pairing off the top-tier Republican candidates with one another like we're in the home stretch of Friends. Who would make the best running mates moving forward? We're gonna put Trump with Cruz, obviously. Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, maybe? But our latest obsession (and arguably the GOP's dream team) is Marco Rubio and John Kasich — two establishment Republicans from large swing states that so far haven't brawled with one another. A Rubio-Kasich ticket could have an Obama-Biden vibe (young, energetic senator paired with an experienced Washington dealmaker). Yes, it's still way too early to speculate. Yes, we're bored. And yes, Jeb and Rand Paul are the Joey and Phoebe.
MORE FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
- It's probably a bit early to start narrowing the GOP field, but it's happening anyway (The Des Moines Register)
- Rubio used the party's credit card for personal expenses. He's gonna get asked about it tonight (Paste BN)
- Huckabee: Ben Carson, get ready for more media scrutiny (Paste BN OnPolitics)
- White House: What Huckabee said (Paste BN OnPolitics)
GOOD LUCK, CLINTON MEDIA BUYER
Hillary's running TV ads to reach college students, which is like creating a Snapchat account to reach retirees. Here's the ad, which you'll never see otherwise.