GOP rivals mock Trump, try to make the most of his absence

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Absent Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidates strained to take advantage of a rare opportunity to step out of the front-runner's shadow in Thursday night's debate -- a staid, policy-heavy contest that offered a glimpse of what the GOP contest might have been without the unpredictable businessman.

The candidates couldn't resist mocking Trump, who boycotted the final debate before Iowa kicks off voting in the 2016 campaign Monday.

"I'm a maniac, and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly," said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is competing with Trump for the lead in Iowa. Cruz then thanked his fellow candidates for showing Iowa voters respect by showing up.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, a frequent target of Trump, said with a wry smile, "I kind of miss Donald Trump; he was a teddy bear to me."

Never one to go quietly, Trump was holding a competing rally elsewhere in Des Moines, an event his campaign said was raising money for military veterans.

"When you're treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights," Trump said in explaining he was skipping the debate because he felt Fox News had dealt with him unfairly. Broadening his point, he said, "We have to stick up for ourselves as people, and we have to stick up for our country if we're being mistreated."

Trump's absence put the spotlight on Cruz, as well as on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who needs a strong showing in Iowa to stay in the top tier of candidates.

The two senators were confronted with video clips suggesting they had changed their positions on immigration, one of the most contentious issues among Republicans. While each insisted the other had flip-flopped, both denied they had switched their own views on allowing some people in the U.S. illegally to stay.

Cruz accused Rubio of making a "politically advantageous" decision to support a 2013 Senate bill that included a pathway to citizenship, while the Florida senator said his rival was "willing to say or do anything to get votes."

In a rare standout debate moment for Bush, the former Florida governor sided with Cruz in accusing Rubio of having "cut and run" on the Senate immigration bill.

"He cut and ran because it wasn't popular with conservatives," Bush said.

With their White House hopes on the line, the candidates worked hard to cast themselves as best prepared to be commander in chief and take on terror threats emanating both from abroad and within the United States.

Rubio struck an aggressive posture, pledging as president he would go after terrorists "wherever they are. And if we capture them alive, they are going to Guantanamo."

Rubio also stood by his previous calls for shutting down mosques in the U.S if there were indications the Muslim religious centers were being used to radicalize terrorists.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul -- back on the main debate stage after being downgraded to an undercard event because of low poll numbers earlier this month -- warned against closing down mosques. A proponent of a more isolationist foreign policy, Paul also raised concerns about the U.S. getting involved militarily in Syria, where the Islamic State group has a stronghold.

The candidates largely sidestepped direct confrontations with each other, focusing some of their most pointed attacks on Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

"She is not qualified to be president of the United States," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said. "What we need is someone on that stage who has been tested, who has been through it."

Christie is part of a crowded field of more mainstream candidates who have struggled to break through in an election year in which Trump, and increasingly Cruz, have tapped into voter anger with the political system. Party leaders have grown increasingly antsy for some of the more traditional candidates to step aside after the first contests to allow one to rise up and challenge for the nomination.

Asked whether the crowded establishment lane was putting Trump in position to be the nominee, Bush said, "We're just starting out. The first vote hasn't been counted. Why don't we let the process work?"

Bush also defended the flurry of critical advertisements his well-funded super PAC has launched against Rubio and other rivals.

"It's called politics," Bush said. "That's the way it is. I'm running hard."

Bush and Christie, along with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, are looking beyond Iowa and hoping New Hampshire's Feb. 9 primary jumpstarts their campaigns. In an election in which a lengthy political resume has been a liability, Kasich defended government's ability to tackle big problems.

"We serve you," Kasich said of government officials and voters. "You don't serve us. We listen to you, and then we act."