Inside the Beltway: Campaigns and combat, Miami-style

NEWS AND OPINION:

Behold, the 12th Republican presidential debate, staged on Florida’s tropical turf, where the wooing of voters is very intense indeed. The remaining quartet of GOP hopefuls will grapple with one another at the University of Miami on Thursday night, broadcast live by CNN in English and Spanish.

Front-runner Donald Trump arrives from North Carolina, newly energized Gov. John Kasich is breezing in from Illinois. Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have been campaigning in the Sunshine State all week. But a drum roll, please: The Washington Times is participating in this debate. Our very astute chief political writer Stephen Dinan will be seated at the adult’s table with CNN’s Dana Bash and talk radio kingpin Hugh Hewitt to question the GOP gladiators. An able team. CNN host Jake Tapper is moderator.

“The March 15 contests could be the most consequential so far — not just for this Republican race, but also for the future of the GOP. We hope this debate will give the candidates a critical opportunity to influence voters on Tuesday and the long-term direction of the party,” Ms. Bash tells Inside the Beltway.

Miami, meanwhile, is poised for, well, something. The bodacious town hosted a Democratic debate Wednesday and the GOP version 24 hours later. Citizens anticipate a monumental primary within days — and have witnessed a sudden influx of shrill media, gawkers, political junkies and protesters.

“The presidential circus comes to town, so watch where you step. With two debates this week and the Florida primary next, we’re knee-deep in the political doo-doo,” reports Miami Herald columnist Glenn Garvin, adding, “On the other hand, this is South Florida, where it’s not unknown for a dissatisfied fast-food customer to hurl an alligator through the drive-through window, so we’re unlikely to be daunted by mere tourist-grade bizarreness.”

HOLA, REPUBLICANOS

Meanwhile, eight Hispanic groups will stage a community roundtable in a Coral Gables chapel just blocks from the GOP debate site, featuring union activist Dolores Huerta and representatives from People for the American Way, Planned Parenthood and student groups.

Ms. Huerta says she will concentrate on Donald Trump plus Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and “their hateful rhetoric,” noting, “Cruz, Rubio and Trump are dangerous for the well-being of our community. Republican candidates can’t get to the White House without our support.”

THE WARREN FACTOR

There is emerging chatter among some political observers that Vice President Joseph R. Biden will declare his intention to run for the White House, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his running mate. Well, OK. But it is interesting to note this emphatic new Facebook post from the Massachusetts lawmaker, which echoes the tone of a floor speech she made before the Senate on Wednesday:

“Senate Republicans are in a panic because their party seems to be on a path to nominate one of two extremists for President. These are not separate issues. For too long, Senate Republicans have tried to have it both ways — feeding ugly lies, rejecting the legitimacy of the President, blocking scores of nominees in an effort to cripple our government — all while claiming they can govern responsibly. That game is over now. If Republican Senators want to stand up to extremists running for President, they can start now by standing up to extremists in the Senate. They can start by doing their jobs.”

HERE COMES THE D-MINUS

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SEE ALSO: Donald Trump leads Marco Rubio by 9 points in Florida: poll

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“In the U.S., 13 percent approve of the job Congress is doing, in line with approval ratings ranging from 11 percent to 16 percent since August. The current rating is just four percentage points above the record low of 9 percent recorded in November 2013,” reports Justin McCarthy, an analyst for Gallup, who adds, “With Congress unlikely to pass major legislation this year, the chances of its approval rating improving are slim, and there is little room for it to get worse.”

A TALE OF TWO TEA PARTIES

Tea party stalwarts Jenny Beth Martin and Mark Meckler remain inspired by liberty-minded values that spontaneously emerged among grass-roots folk seven years ago, a catalyst for the movement that later dominated the 2010 midterm elections. The two of them co-founded the Tea Party Patriots back in the day; she is now president, he went on to establish Citizens for Self-Governance. Mr. Meckler has much to say about the presidential race and the GOP landscape.

“The Republican establishment is in collapse. History is being made, no establishment candidates left standing,” he notes, focusing on Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz.

“One is a wild-card outsider threatening to blow everything up and ’make America great,’ and the other a take-no-prisoner’s tea party constitutionalist with a penchant for doing exactly what he says and a lifelong passion for limited government and constitutional originalism. The biggest takeaway is that the Republican establishment is in its death throes,” says Mr. Meckler.

There are those who would disagree, of course. But in the middle of all this comes the Cato Institute, which is staging a forum in the nation’s capital on Thursday titled “Whatever happened to the tea party?” featuring Ben Domenech, publisher of The Federalist; John Samples, vice president and publisher at the Cato Institute; and Emily Ekins, a research fellow.

“Libertarians and conservatives held high hopes for a return to limited, constitutional government and fiscal responsibility with the arrival of the tea party movement,” the organizers note. “Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are making credible runs for the White House. What happened? Was the commitment to founding-era principles weakly held, after all?”

The answer is the tea party, like everyone else, is evolving with the times. But see for yourself. Watch the event live at Cato.org/live at 4 p.m. EST.

POLL DU JOUR

• 62 percent of U.S. homeowners plan to spend on home improvement projects this year, spending an average of $6,239.

• 62 percent of that group will use their own savings, 25 percent a credit card, 9 percent a home equity line of credit, 6 percent a loan; some will use more than one financing method.

• 45 percent will invest in a deck, patio or landscape renovation; 31 percent will opt for bath remodeling, 30 percent will upgrade roofs, windows, heating and cooling or technology systems; 23 percent will remodel the kitchen.

• 40 percent will spend up to $5,000, 22 percent will spend $10,000 or more.

Source: A LightStream/SunTrust/Harris Poll survey of 1,258 U.S. adult homeowners conducted Feb. 1-3 and released Friday.

• Petulant proclamations, mumbles to jharper@washingtontimes.com