Two of the three principal GOP candidates are in desperate need of some mental health counseling. Trump is a classic narcissist, although, to be fair, some of it may be an act; Cruz, on the other hand, is filled with barely suppressed anger at a world that he thinks rarely gives him his due and never lives up to his lofty expectations. Rubio, by contrast, appears to be relatively sane, his performance at the last debate notwithstanding. In that sense, you could call him a “moderate.”
But is he, when you look at his policy positions? I decided to evaluate the three of them on issues on which they have some measure of disagreement by assigning points to them: the most extreme gets three points, and the least, one. How do they stack up?
1. Aggressive foreign policy: Rubio wins the prize here for his enthusiasm for neo-conservative doctrine. Trump edges out Cruz, who just wants to engage in selective carpet bombing in Syria, due to his advocacy for a 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods. Scores: Rubio 3; Trump 2, Cruz 1.
2. Tax cut plan: Rubio’s plan has some small concessions to struggling workers; Trump’s is substantially larger, and is even more skewed to the wealthy; Cruz wants to completely overhaul the existing system and get rid of progressive taxation altogether. Scores: Cruz 3; Trump 2, Rubio 1.
3. Entitlements: Trump wants to maintain Social Security as it is; Rubio supports cuts for future beneficiaries; Cruz will consider a variety of kinds of cuts and supports partial privatization. Scores: Cruz 3; Rubio 2; Trump 1.
4. Immigration: Trump’s position speaks for itself. Cruz basically agrees with him, but in less inflammatory language. Rubio supported the Gang of Eight legislation, then walked away from it, but still sorta maybe thinks illegals should have some sort of status after he’s long dead. Scores: Trump 3; Cruz 2; Rubio 1.
5. Abortion: Trump was once pro-choice. Rubio believes abortion should be outlawed, with no exceptions, but will support an more incremental approach, if tactically necessary. Cruz, as you would expect, is completely inflexible. Scores: Cruz 3; Rubio 2; Trump 1.
Final scores: Cruz 12; Rubio 9; Trump 9. Cruz is clearly the biggest extremist, but Marco is tied with Trump. Does that make him a “moderate?”