GOP Debate 2015 Reaction: Republicans, Democrats Name Winners and Losers of First GOP Debate

By Michael Oleaga Aug 07 2015, 03:27 AM EDT

The first Republican presidential primary debate concluded, and while many GOP campaigns are claiming victory, everyone definitely has an opinion about the issues -- or the lack thereof -- and the participating candidates.

With the 17 Republican presidential candidates, two debates occurred on Thursday night. The primetime 9 p.m. debate featured 10 candidates based on an average of five national polls, and the Quicken Loans Arena stage included businessman Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

An earlier debate, at 5 p.m. ET, featured the next seven candidates -- former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.

In both GOP debates, the topics of immigration reform, jobs and the economy, the Islamic State militant group, the Iran nuclear deal and President Barack Obama's immigration executive actions were discussed.

Following the 9 p.m. debate, the Bush campaign said the former Florida governor won the debate by demonstrating presidential leadership, a conservative record and presenting a sharp contrast to Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

"People should be able to see that not only is he (Bush) the candidate who can win but he's the one with specific [and] concrete accomplishments of reforming education, helping economic growth that led to the extraordinary job creation and what we need in this country is job creation," said former congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart, who served Florida's 21st Congressional District between 1993 and 2011, in an interview with Latin Post.

"I think that despite the lack of time tonight, because there was so many candidates it was hard to get a message across, but despite that, Jeb did get the message across that he's ready, he's prepared and he can change the country in a positive direction from day one," added Díaz-Balart, who serves as chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.

Díaz-Balart noted the former governor "did not back down" from his immigration plan. As Latin Post reported, and as Bush said on Thursday night, a fixed immigration system will improve the economy. Díaz-Balart said many times there are candidates who pander, depending on the audience, but Bush is not one of those candidates.

"What Obama fails to do, which is to solve the immigration problem in his first year, Jeb will get done. Jeb will get immigration reform solved in the first year of his presidency," said Díaz-Balart.

In regards to Rubio, Lizet Ocampo, associate director for immigration policy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, said it is disappointing the Florida senator is not advocating his bipartisan Senate comprehensive immigration reform legislation, which would have improved the U.S. economy, GDP and border security.

During the debate, Trump defended his controversial comments about Mexico and immigrants. Ocampo said the businessman's comments about the border are false. She noted the southern U.S. border is more secure than ever before while border crossing has dropped to lows not seen in decades.

"[Trump] also didn't mention and ignored the fact that the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill actually increases security at the border," said Ocampo during a call with Latin Post. "His rhetoric is interesting, but it's really not based on facts when you look at the numbers of security at the border."

Ocampo said Trump's comments are problematic, which provides negative and untrue perception of immigrants, but the real-estate mogul's views has allowed fellow candidates to be as extreme in their rhetoric, noting Huckabee's comments that included immigrants, drug dealers, prostitutes and pimps in the same group.

Presente.org, observed as the largest online Latino organizing group, stated the Republican Party had an opportunity to "condemn Donald Trump's hateful speech tonight," but the organization said the GOP would rather alienate American populations.

"When Donald Trump calls immigrants illegals, drug dealers and criminals, and the GOP does nothing to stop or stand up to him, they're tacitly condoning hate. And while Republican leaders may use alternative tones and language than Trump, their policies are quite literally based on the same values and assumptions," Presente.org said in a statement Latin Post received.

Presente.org's statement said Bush's six-point immigration plan are based on criminalizing immigrants by militarizing the border, increasing deportations and eliminating sanctuary cities.

The group added, "The fact is that all of the GOP leaders might try to differentiate themselves from Donald Trump, but their underlying values, reasoning and policy proposals are almost the same. This was the GOP's chance to reject #TrumpHate, but hate may actually Trump the GOP."

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