Illegal immigration a dominant theme at Republican forum even without Trump
MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) - There was no Donald Trump but his top issue, illegal immigration, was a dominant theme on Monday for 14 Republican presidential candidates who tested their messages at a New Hampshire forum to start a pivotal week on the campaign trail.
Facing their first face-to-face debate on Thursday in Cleveland, the candidates got in some warm-up action at the Voters First Forum. The event lacked the punch of an actual debate but allowed participants to talk up their policy beliefs in answer to questions from a moderator.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina got in what was arguably the zinger of the night when he declared himself uniquely qualified to take on Democrat Hillary Clinton in a general election matchup in November 2016. Clinton is currently the front runner among Democrats seeking the presidential nomination.
"I am fluent in Clinton-speak," Graham said, proceeding to bring up the Monica Lewinsky scandal that jeopardized Bill Clinton's presidency in 1996 and Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while conducting official business as secretary of state.
"When Bill says he didn't have sex with that woman, he did," Graham said. "When (Hillary Clinton) tells us: 'Trust me, you have all the emails you need,' we haven't even scratched the surface....I understand this crowd," he said.
Trump, who leads polls of Republican voters in the 2016 race for a presidential nominee, declined to appear at the event out of pique [Notice the spin? Why not simply 'in reaction to'?] over an editorial written about him by the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper, one of the sponsors of the event. ...
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