Live Coverage Of The First Republican Debate

Jeb Bush says his economic success in Florida shows how he can achieve 4 percent annual economic growth as president. How credible is his 4 percent pledge? In two words: Not very. (See folks, not that hard.) Back in the 1960s and 1970s, 4 percent growth was pretty common in the U.S. But that was during a period when women were still joining the workforce and baby boomers were entering their prime working years, among other major demographic and social changes. Today, those trends are working against the economy rather than for it. The last time the U.S. experienced 4 percent growth was during the Clinton administration, in what we now recognize as the dot-com bubble. Still, even if 4 percent growth is unlikely, Bush is right about this much: Economic growth has been consistently disappointing under Obama. That’s especially true given the deep recession, which historically should have led to a strong rebound.

John Kasich started the night justifying expanding Medicaid in Ohio, saying he wanted to get treatment to the mentally ill and people being released from prison. It’s a reasonable justification: More than half of inmates have mental health issues, and before the Affordable Care Act, an estimated 70 to 90 percent of inmates were uninsured when they were released. National estimates before Obamacare was implemented said 57 percent of inmates would be eligible for Medicaid or subsidies under the law.

Google searches in the first 50 minutes of the debate, relative to Donald Trump who we’ve indexed at 100: Trump is still clearly ahead, although not by nearly as large a margin as he is on an ordinary evening. Cruz and Carson seem to be doing better on the Internet than in the debate room; the reverse is true for Kasich. Scott Walker has been very, very quiet.