Jeb Bush…meet Kacey Musgraves?
The first GOP debate aired last night (Aug. 6), and it was the first chance for voters to see all the candidates in the super-sized field together at once. Over the course of just over two hours, all 10 primetime candidates fielded questions on everything from ISIS to Planned Parenthood (so…not controversial at all!).
While you can look anywhere online for debate analysis, Billboard decided to help the candidates out with something a little more music-focused. Based on their talking points last night, we went ahead and assigned each candidate a debate theme song. This shouldn’t be confused with their official campaign songs; we realize the candidates may not want to be associated with these tunes, but their words and actions Thursday night say differently.
GOP Debate: Celebrities Weigh In
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Jeb Bush
Bush walked a fine line last night between owning the family name and his obvious love for his brother and father, but also a desire to show his differences, including attempting to distance his own opinions on the Iraq war without blaming his brother’s leadership role. Family drama!
Donald Trump
Trump’s inherent Trumpiness was on display right from the opening moments of the debate, when moderator Megyn Kelly asked him about the derogatory ways he regularly refers to women. This led to Trump giving a shout out to his regular sparring partner Rosie O’Donnell, and saying that there were too many problems facing this country to worry about a “tone” problem. Some re-branding may be needed, so it certainly wouldn’t kill Trump to listen to this a few times before the next campaign stop.
Rand Paul
Paul’s most interesting moments came when he differentiated himself from the others with respect to his thoughts about citizens right to privacy and government spying overreach, including a long shout-out to the 4th Amendment, telling Christie he “fundamentally misunderstands” the Bill of Rights. Maybe break out a one-song playlist for everyone next time around?
Chris Christie
Christie pushed his tough guy/real talk image throughout the evening, whether that be taking on teacher’s union, or lecturing other candidates about making hard decisions post-9/11.
Ted Cruz
While discussing foreign policy, Ted Cruz didn’t want anyone to be afraid to say the words “Radical Islamic Terrorism.” (Yes, he was clearly taking a dig at best pal President Obama.) Which leads to this Eminem intro.
Mike Huckabee:
Huckabee appeared to be advocating for personhood for the unborn throughout much of the evening, name checking using the 5th and 14th amendments in his quest to make that happen. According to Mike Huckabee, Mike Huckabee friggin loves babies — so a lullaby ballad seems appropriate, yes? Don’t worry, Mike. We chose a Britney love song, not a Beyonce one.
Scott Walker:
Like Huckabee, Walker was all about the unborn last night, touting his pro-life bona fides including declining to answer Megyn Kelly’s question about whether he would let a woman die rather than allow her to make her own medical choices. So, that’s pretty depressing. No jokes here; take it away, Johnny Cash.
Marco Rubio
Rubio had a lot to say about the problem of illegal immigration, the American Dream, and the wannabe immigrants who are obeying the law and are unable to get into this country. While they probably have policy disagreements, Rubio should consider greeting the day listening to one of Rihanna’s latest.
John Kasich:
Kasich made progressives happy Thursday evening by appearing to be the most liberal on the issue of marriage equality. We hope he takes this message to heart.
Ben Carson:
Dr. Carson was just thrilled to make the cut, happily telling the moderators that he was excited to get a second question directed at him among the crowded field. He’s still here, guys!