Getty N.H. forum: GOP candidates make their bids solo One by one, Republican contenders take their turns in the spotlight. 
 
 MANCHESTER, N.H. — For one night, the national polls didn’t matter. 
 
 Three days ahead of the first official GOP debate, which will include only the top 10 candidates in an average of scattershot national polls, 14 of the 17 declared Republican presidential candidates took part in the “Voters First Forum” here Monday night. 
 
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 For the candidates, who appeared one by one for short, fast-paced question-and-answer sessions, and for New Hampshire and the trio of early states sponsoring the event, it was a temporary reprieve from a sprawling and chaotic primary battle currently dominated by Donald Trump’s bombast, even as deep-pocketed candidates like Jeb Bush lurk in the background. 
 
 But Monday night’s two-hour forum, a Trump-free zone open to every candidate no matter their standing in the polls, did little to bring clarity to a cluttered Republican field. 
 
 For activists and officials in the three early states worried about their diminishing relevance, it was a chance to push back at the Republican National Committee and to preserve the outsize importance of Iowa and New Hampshire, smaller states that historically have given hard-working underdogs a chance to break through in the nomination fight. 
 
 Candidates won simply by taking part. 
 
 Never pushed outside their comfort zones, they directed their attack lines at Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They all adhered to the conservative orthodoxies of the moment: a stronger foreign policy, a harder line on curtailing illegal immigration, cutting funding for Planned Parenthood. 
 
 All of the candidates were simply aiming to make a strong introduction — and, due in part to the speed dating-like format, their points of emphasis were painted with a broad brush. 
 
 Rick Perry portrayed himself as a job creator. Rick Santorum reminded the audience of his work to pass welfare reform in Congress. John Kasich emphasized his history of balancing budgets. Ben Carson offered a vision for how to repeal and replace Obamacare. 
 
 Scott Walker sold himself as a “fresh face with a proven track record.” Jeb Bush emphasized “leadership.” Rand Paul acknowledged himself as a “different kind of Republican.” 
 
 Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio delivered a series of talking points straight out of their stump speeches. 
 
 Lindsey Graham, who is flat-lining in the polls, took aim at Hillary Clinton’s trustworthiness by bringing up the Monica Lewinsky scandal. “I’m fluent in Clintonspeak,” Graham said. “When Bill says I didn’t have sex with that woman, that means that he did.” 
 
 Carly Fiorina, clearly frustrated by the participation criteria for the first official GOP debates, thanked the forum’s organizers “for reminding political class that we don’t have a national primary.” 
 
 “Everyone realizes it’s a nationalized campaign, but you have to respect certain traditions in New Hampshire,” said Fergus Cullen, a conservative political observer and presidential primary historian in New Hampshire. “You have to do town halls. Scott Walker has not done a town hall yet in New Hampshire. Ted Cruz has not set foot in New Hampshire in two months. 
 
 “Historically, voters have punished candidates that haven’t put time in at the grass-roots level and the retail level,” Cullen added. 
 
 Trump, who exemplifies better than any candidate how national stature and celebrity increasingly outweigh a candidate’s willingness to work the early states for every vote, blew off Monday night’s forum. The businessman, who continues to stretch his lead in national polls and now appears to be opening up a significant lead in New Hampshire, will be center stage Thursday night. He said he would appear here only if the New Hampshire Union Leader, which is sponsoring the forum, endorsed him. 
 
 Jeb Bush, on the other hand, flew all the way across the country Monday morning after appearing at a Koch brothers summit Sunday night in California in order to make the most of his seven minutes on stage at St. Anselm College here. It’s a testament to Bush’s commitment to New Hampshire, which offers his best shot to put an early state win on the board before the race accelerates when the calendar turns to March, and his willingness to play by the traditional rules with an emphasis on retail politics. 
 
 Following the same playbook, Walker, Kasich, Chris Christie and Perry all hit the campaign trail ahead of the forum Monday. Walker showed up in the morning at a restaurant for a meet and greet, his preferred event, as did Perry, while Kasich held a small town hall at a downtown law firm in the afternoon just as Christie ducked into a coffee shop up the street. 
 
 “I think it’s important to be in New Hampshire,” said Kasich, who is currently polling in 10th place and stands to be the last candidate to make the cut for Thursday night’s main event. “Hopefully, I’ll be there but it’s a long road between now and the nomination.” 
 
 “I think these forums are arguably just as important as a sanctioned debate, particularly in the states where people are going to be casting votes,” said Steve Duprey, New Hampshire’s RNC committeeman who heads the party’s debate committee. 
 
 Aside from Trump, the only other candidates who skipped the forum, which aired live on CSPAN and also be broadcast live on local affiliates in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, are Mike Huckabee and Jim Gilmore. 
 
 Three of the four senators running for president appeared live via satellite from Washington, where they were stuck voting on whether the Senate should take up a bill that would block funding for Planned Parenthood. 
 
 For the candidates who aren’t going to make the main debate Thursday — including Graham and Jindal, as well as Fiorina, who has spent as much time in New Hampshire as any other candidate — Monday’s forum offered an equal footing to draw contrasts with the big dogs. 
 
 “It’s the first time we’ll see candidates going out of their way to draw distinctions with others in a focused way,” Cullen said. “And for the second-tier candidates, it’s all upside. It’s a chance to make your case when you ||||| After weeks of preparing for a smash-mouth debate with Donald J. Trump, 14 Republican candidates found themselves instead Trump-less but sandwiched into a constricting format on Monday night, delivering strikingly uneven performances just days before the first big test of the presidential primary contest. 
 
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 Rather than making the other contenders look more presidential, however, the event, at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., seemed to shrink the candidates. Assembled in the front row, the Republicans gawked as each rival took his or her turn on stage, looking at times as if they were being forced to sit through a tedious school assembly. 
 
 In Mr. Trump’s absence — he skipped the event, saying it was not worth his time — the candidates filled two hours with credentials and boasts that he could not match. They touted their experience balancing big state budgets (Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio), their military service (Mr. Graham) and their middle-class roots (Carly Fiorina.) 
 
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 “I started out as a secretary in a little nine-person real estate firm,” said Ms. Fiorina, who ended her career in business as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, a billion-dollar computer company. 
 
 Still, Mr. Trump’s influence could be discerned. The moderator, Jack Heath, a New Hampshire radio host, repeatedly pressed the candidates on immigration, the issue that Mr. Trump has ridden to the top of the polls. And it seemed clear they felt compelled to take as hard a line as they could to leave as little room as possible between their positions and his. 
 
 Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, said he had looked President Obama in the eye and warned, “Mr. President, if you don’t secure the border, Texas will.” He listed the security measures he favored for stemming the flow of illegal immigrants, from air patrols of the border 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to a stronger fence in certain places. 
 
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 The forum, sponsored by The Union Leader newspaper, seemed to lack the drama and anticipation surrounding Thursday night’s Republican debate in Cleveland. Candidates were not permitted to interact with each other directly; instead, they each took two turns at the microphone, fielding rapid-fire questions from the moderator, before being given 30 seconds for closing statements. 
 
 Some were not even in New Hampshire. Three of the senators who participated — Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida — did so from a studio in Washington, where they stayed so they could vote for stripping Planned Parenthood of its federal funding. (The vote failed in a Democratic-led filibuster.) 
 
 The unusual format and repeated interruptions by timekeepers led to several painfully awkward moments. 
 
 Former Gov. George Pataki of New York was mid-sentence — “By the way, Jack” — when the moderator cut him off. He reacted with surprise, stood up and walked off. At another point, a woman suddenly emerged from stage right with a folder in hand, beckoning Mr. Perry to leave. He sheepishly did so. 
 
 C-Span cameras caught candidates waiting their turn, forlornly watching their rivals onstage, sometimes in unflattering ways. Mr. Christie at one point sat with his head down, looking positively bored, as he listened to Mr. Walker. As Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, gave his closing statement, Ms. Fiorina was caught gabbing with Mr. Graham. 
 
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 There were moments of levity. The moderator asked Mr. Perry to name agencies he would cut from the federal government, the same question that tripped him up, disastrously, during a Republican presidential debate in 2012. 
 
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 “I’ve heard this question before,” Mr. Perry deadpanned, to laughs. 
 
 There were revealing moments, too. Mr. Heath asked Mr. Christie if his best shot at the White House had been in 2012. Mr. Christie gamely replied, “Jack, you saying I’m washed up?” He added that, back then, "I was not ready." 
 
 The Republicans largely spared each other attack, favoring Mrs. Clinton as their primary target. Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana deployed backhanded praise for a Clinton rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, to mock her liberal values. “Give Bernie credit,” Mr. Jindal said, “At least he is honest enough to call himself a socialist.” 
 
 But the fiercest critique was from Ms. Fiorina, the sole woman in the Republican field, who repeatedly accused Mrs. Clinton of lying and declared herself uniquely capable of taking her on: “In order to beat Hillary Clinton, we have to have a nominee on our side who is going to throw every punch.” 
 
 The format seemed ill suited to a number of candidates. Mr. Bush, the former Florida governor, whose eight years out of office has left many wondering about his adroitness as a debater, delivered a low-key and sometimes halting performance — particularly on the subject of the Islamic State. He said America “needs to pick a strategy and stick with it,” but when asked about putting American forces on the ground to fight it, his answer seemed wobbly: “I’m not sure that’s necessary.” 
 
 He also stammered through his attempt at a joke about his famous family. "My dad is the probably the most perfect man alive, so it’s very hard for me to be critical of him,” he said. “In fact, I’ve got a T-shirt that says, uh, at the Jeb swag store, that says I’m the, um, I’m the, my dad’s the greatest man alive. If you don’t like it, I’ll take you outside.” ||||| Fourteen Republican presidential candidates took their messages out for a test drive on Monday night at a presidential forum in New Hampshire, with the contenders seeking to sharpen their arguments ahead the main event on the debate stage in Cleveland later this week. 
 
 
 
 
 
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 The C-SPAN forum at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire was touted by its media-outlet sponsors as a more inclusive alternative to the first Republican debate on Thursday, but the net result lacked much of the drama that’s expected from the gathering later this week.One by one the candidates marched on stage to answer questions from a moderator in a format that felt like speed dating. There were no attacks, no back-and-forth between candidates, and the presidential hopefuls largely stuck to well-worn lines from their stump speeches in brief appearances onstage.Perhaps most glaringly, there was also no, who passed on the event because he said he didn’t believe the New Hampshire Union Leader, which co-sponsored the forum, would endorse him for president. His name was never even mentioned on Monday night.The event had a more collegial feel, with the candidates sitting together in the front row and the camera often catching them fraternizing with one another.“I’m really impressed with the caliber of people we have running for president,” Jeb Bush said to close out the night. “Every person participating in this debate is far better than any Democrat running. I’m honored to be among the candidates.”Republican front-runners Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker turned in safe performances at the event.Bush told the story he’s told countless times on the campaign trail about turning the Florida economy around as governor. He delivered one solid new line about liberals who are disputing his claim that, as president, he’ll get the economy growing at 4 percent per year. 
 
 “The fact that [New York Times columnist] Paul Krugman disagrees with me warms my heart,” Bush said. 
 
 Walker similarly recounted the fiscal successes he says he’s had as governor, and sought to frame himself as a fighter who has consistently won elections in a blue state by espousing conservative ideals. 
 
 
 
 “I won three elections in four years,” Walker said. “I did it by taking bold actions and we got results because of it. Whether we’re running against Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden next year, I’m a new, fresh face from outside of Washington with a proven track record.” 
 
 
 
 With so many candidates and often times so little daylight on the issues between them, the GOP hopefuls sought to highlight areas they believe set them apart, or aspects of their records they believe will best serve them in the primaries. 
 
 
 
 Ohio Gov. John Kasich, whose late entrance into the race has given him a boost in the polls just in time to perhaps help him qualify for Thursday’s debate, repeatedly reminded viewers that he was chairman of the House Budget Committee when Congress balanced the federal budget in the 1990s under then-President Bill Clinton. 
 
 
 
 “We got it done then and we can do it again,” Kasich said 
 
 
 
 New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has similarly been fighting for one of the final spots on the debate stage, highlighted the fact that he’s one of the only Republicans to touch the “third rail” of politics by putting forth a plan to overhaul the nation’s entitlement programs. 
 
 
 
 “We’re mortgaging away our kids’ futures and killing those programs, so we have to tell people the truth,” Christie said. “We’re living longer lives so we need to increase retirement age. … If you’ve done well in this country, we need you to not take your Social Security check. Those are things Americans are willing to hear.” 
 
 
 
 Fox News is capping Thursday’s first presidential debate at 10 based on national polling numbers, and it appears increasingly likely that Christie and Kasich will nab the final two spots on the debate stage. 
 
 
 
 There are four U.S. senators running for president. Three, Sens. Rand Paul, Marco Rubio Marco RubioIvanka Trump weighs in on awkward hug with Rubio: ‘Fake news’ Rubio, Ivanka Trump joke about their 'alleged failed hug' GOP senators pleased with Ivanka Trump meeting on family leave, child tax credits MORE and Ted Cruz Ted CruzGOP hits the gas on ObamaCare repeal Trio of conservative Republicans rip Senate healthcare process The Hill's 12:30 Report MORE, were cabled in from Washington, where they stayed to cast votes to defund Planned Parenthood just hours before. Sen. Lindsey Graham skipped the vote and was in New Hampshire for the forum. 
 
 
 
 Back in January, those three were the only participants at a Koch Brothers forum that was the first unofficial presidential forum of the cycle. There, Paul stood out for his non-interventionist views. 
 
 
 
 On Monday night, Paul’s dovish stance was once again on full display. 
 
 
 
 “War should be seen as the last resort, not the first resort, that’s what Ronald Reagan believed,” Paul said. “I will do whatever it takes to defend the country … but I don’t think we should just go to war as if it was a game of Risk.” 
 
 
 
 Rubio, who spoke directly after Paul, has emerged as one of the party’s leading voices on national security. He struck a different tone. 
 
 
 
 “As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, almost on a daily basis I review the threats coming at our country,” he said. “Suffice it to say, we’re living in a time that is increasingly more dangerous than any we’ve lived through before.” 
 
 
 
 Paul and Rubio split on the issue of government surveillance. The Kentucky senator sought to highlight his efforts to rein in the government’s ability to look at emails and phone calls of private citizens, while Rubio responded that those activities are a critical tool in preventing terrorism. 
 
 “It’s not a matter of if we’re going to be attacked, it’s a matter of when,” Rubio said. “When we are, the American people are going to want to know why we didn’t know about it and why we weren’t able to stop it.” 
 
 
 
 Cruz was his normal firebrand self, reiterating a line about President Obama’s deal with Iran over its nuclear program that has been criticized by some as overheated rhetoric. 
 
 
 
 “If this [Iran] deal goes through, the Obama administration will become the leading global financier of radical Islamic terrorism,” Cruz said. “President Obama attacked me from Africa for saying that. … Let me tell you something — speaking the truth is not rhetoric." 
 
 
 
 The forum was a nice showcase for the candidates who will likely miss out on qualifying for Thursday’s Fox News debate. 
 
 
 
 While those who don’t make the cut will participate in an earlier forum, Monday’s event pitted those with low polling numbers side-by-side with the upper tier of candidates. 
 
 
 
 Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is still trying to recover from a 2012 debate performance that essentially sunk his first White House bid, boasted about Texas’s job growth under his leadership, while energetically declaring that as the governor of a border state, he’s most qualified to deal with illegal immigration. 
 
 
 
 “I’m an incredible optimist about the future of this country,” Perry said to close out his time. “We’ve made it through two world wars, the Great Depression and Jimmy Carter. We’ll make it through Obama, I promise.” 
 
 
 
 Perry has received raves from some conservatives for his better grasp on policy and some proposals he’s presented on the campaign trail. He’s also emerged as Trump’s fiercest critic. 
 
 
 
 However, he’s failed to gain much traction in the polls, and looks like he might be the first candidate left off the stage on Thursday night. 
 
 
 
 Businesswoman Carly Fiorina has also won solid reviews on the trail as one of the party’s sharpest critics of Hillary Clinton. 
 
 
 
 That continued on Monday night, with Fiorina saying Clinton “stood over the bodies of the fallen” and “lied about Benghazi.” Fiorina also accused Clinton of lying about using a personal email account as secretary of State. 
 
 
 
 “I think Hillary Clinton thinks these are political inconveniences, but they’re far more than that,” Fiorina said. “These things go to the core of her character.” 
 
 
 
 Fiorina, who is also likely headed to the earlier forum rather than the prime-time debate, took an implied dig at Fox News Channel’s criteria for determining who gets on stage by thanking C-SPAN for, “reminding the political class that we don’t have a national primary and for managing to get all of the candidates here to the first in the nation primary state.” ||||| Fourteen Republicans running for President did their best to nail the job interview during the “Voters First Forum” Monday night.Each cast themselves as the most qualified candidate to grow the economy, protect the nation and fulfill the promise of America.The candidates took turns answering questions about pressing domestic and foreign policy issues. They criticized the Iran nuclear deal, funding for Planned Parenthood, and the Affordable Care Act.“Obamacare has been a manifest disaster,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said.Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and former New York Gov. George Pataki were among those calling for a more limited federal bureaucracy.Each sought to stand out in the crowded field during the forum at Saint Anselm College.Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker touted himself as a proven leader, based in part on winning three elections in four years. “I’m a new, fresh face,” he said.“I’m a different kind of Republican,” said Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, calling himself a constitutional conservative who would do what it takes to defend the nation and protect liberties.Dr. Ben Carson and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina underscored their status as Washington outsiders.Carson said “Obamacare” should be repealed in favor of a system that empowers consumers and gives them flexibility and choice. He touted the value of health savings accounts.Carly Fiorina also took aim at Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. “We need a nominee on our side who is going to throw every punch,” she said.Ohio Gov. John Kasich called for eliminating “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants. He said his No. 1 priority is balancing the budget to foster economic growth.Kasich, a former congressman, noted he had a deep grasp of national security issues.South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham promised a muscular foreign policy. He described his policy as a global leader as “a clenched fist or an open hand: you choose.”Rick Santorum touted his work on welfare reform as a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. Creating a better economic climate will help give incentives for people to work, he said.Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Washington needs to be more frugal.“We have a bunch of math deniers in both parties,” Jindal said about the need for fiscal belt-tightening.Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said 2016 is a pivotal time to address economic insecurity to ensure that future generations can achieve the American Dream.Perry said immigration reform must begin by securing the border. He, along with other current and past governors, boasted of gubernatorial successes.Walker said steps to protect the environment need to be balanced with economic concerns.“It’d be like a buzz saw to America’s economy,” he said of President Barack Obama’s clean power policies.“I think we’ve let our guard down a little bit,” Bush responded, when asked if the U.S. is doing enough to prevent another terrorist attack.N.J. Gov. Chris Christie said America must keep its promises to veterans for timely health care, even if it is an insurance card that allows them to get care wherever they want.Christie also called for treatment of drug abuse, in the face of the heroin scourge in New Hampshire and around the country.“The war on drugs has been a failure. Well-intentioned, but a failure,” Christie said.Cruz called the Iran nuclear deal a “catastrophic deal,” which would flow money into Iran, and on to terrorist organizations.Christie, Pataki and Walker pointed to accomplishments they have made while working in “blue states.”The first-in-the-nation primary event — the first of its kind during an election season with a slew of big-name candidates — aimed at giving all of the major candidates prime-time exposure.The New Hampshire Union Leader, a co-sponsor, first announced the forum following the Fox News decision that its debate criteria for the first televised debate Thursday would be limited to the top 10 candidates based on national polls.The two-hour forum was live on C-SPAN, and broadcast in New Hampshire on WMUR, NH1, NECN, WGIR and NHPR. WGIR’s Jack Heath served as moderator, with candidates joining him one at a time.Co-sponsors included media partners in Iowa, which holds the first caucuses, and in South Carolina, which holds the “First in the South” primary.The 14 participating candidates were: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Dr. Ben Carson, N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former N.Y. George Pataki, Sen. Rand Paul, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.Cruz, Paul and Rubio participated via satellite link from Washington, where the three were present for a vote in the U.S. Senate to defund Planned Parenthood.Billionaire real estate mogul Donald J. Trump declined to participate. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee did not respond to an invitation to the event. Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, who just announced to become the 17th Republican candidate, did not make the deadline to confirm participation.dtuohy@unionleader.com
– Last night, 14 Republicans running for president joined a forum in Manchester, NH, with two major differences from the upcoming official debate on Fox News on Thursday: no requirement to be in the pollsters' top 10, and no Donald Trump. Instead of debating each other, the candidates took two turns speaking over two hours, and delivered what the New York Times calls "strikingly uneven performances" in which they focused their attacks on President Obama and Hillary Clinton instead of their fellow Republicans. Trump said he didn't have time to attend the event, though Politico reports that he offered to attend if the Union Leader, which sponsored the "Voters First Forum," gave him its endorsement. Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul took part via telecast, having stayed in Washington for the Planned Parenthood vote. Mike Huckabee and Jim Gilmore, the 17th candidate, were absent. Some highlights from the forum: Carly Fiorina insisted she was the Republican best able to take on Clinton, saying the party needs a nominee "who is going to throw every punch." In what Politico sees as a sign of desperation from the candidate at the bottom of the polls, Sen. Lindsey Graham brought up the Lewinsky scandal. "I'm fluent in Clinton-speak," he said. "When Bill says I didn't have sex with that woman—he did." Rick Perry got plenty of laughs when he was asked what federal agencies he would cut, which the Times notes is the same question that probably doomed his 2012 campaign. "I've heard this question before," Perry quipped. Cruz turned in one of the better performances and was his usual "firebrand self," according to the Hill. If the Iran "deal goes through, the Obama administration will become the leading global financier of radical Islamic terrorism," he said. Chris Christie, who may not make the final cut on Thursday, said, "Jack, you saying I'm washed up?" when moderator Jack Heath asked the NJ governor if he would have had a better chance in 2012, per the Times.