The GOP debate on CNN just ended. Amidst all the back and forth, a few things became clear:
1. Some of those on the stage did poorly. The worst by far seemed to be Rand Paul. His foreign policy views are enough to make any Republican interested in national security start to squirm in his or her seat. Another candidate who did not help himself tonight was Mike Huckabee. He had a few moments when he took forceful positions, but mostly he was just an amiable addition to the background noise. A third candidate who did not help himself in my opinion was Scott Walker. The Wisconsin governor made his points but he seemed to be someone who could be brushed aside, not exactly the characteristic that one wants to see in a leader. John Kasich also was not a winner. The best description of him tonight is "blah".
2. Donald Trump deserves special mention among those who the debate ought to hurt. Because Trump seems to surmount the problems that would fell a normal campaign we will have to wait to see the polls, but he had some bad moments. Nothing was worse than hearing Trump talk about vaccines causing autism. Dr. Carson talked about the medical studies that prove there is no connection, and that was followed by Trump giving his own "medical" opinion. There were also those moments when Trump was asked about foreign policy specifics. These were not questions about minor details, but rather questions asking how he would deal with Russia, with the situation in Syria and the like. Trump kept saying he would handle the situations, but never HOW he would do so. It was the same on the economy and other subjects. The only place where Trump seemed to have a policy was on immigration, but even there, he was short on details. We will have to see whether aimless blather will satisfy the many current Trump supporters.
3. Ben Carson also gets special mention because he went from some rather poor responses to some rather interesting ones. We will have to see whether the public gives him more latitude because he is not a politician. Of course, I thought Carson's performance last time was so so, and he rocketed up in the polls afterwards. Maybe I missed it here too.
4. The performances by Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz were okay, but neither was outstanding in my opinion. Bush had his best moment by claiming the code name "Energizer" as his own and noting that it was high energy. He stuck, however, to his somewhat pedantic persona in the early confrontations with Trump. I doubt he made much headway with the voters. Cruz made different points in his answers, but they still seemed to be the same answer each time. He came across more like an actor than a candidate.
5. That leaves the three who were tonight's winners: Rubio, Fiorina and Christie. Rubio showed real knowledge of policy and a clear viewpoint as to what he wanted to achieve. For those who may view the Florida senator as someone who is too young to be president, Rubio demonstrated that he seems ready to go on day one. Carly Fiorina also had a series of great moments. Much is being made of her discussion of the Planned Parenthood videos, but my favorite moment of the night came when she was asked about Trump's comments on her looks. Trump had just been talking about how he had heard Bush's words on funding women's health care. Fiorina looked at Trump and said that although Trump wanted now to change what he had said, that she and millions of other women across America had heard his words and knew exactly what he meant. Carly also showed that she is well prepared with facts and figures and could command those facts for use to her advantage. That leaves Christie. For the first time in a while, the Chris Christie who was on that stage is one who had a clear point of view and expressed it both strongly and well. Governor Christie may get a second look from some of the voters.
Overall, I have to say that the debate ought to bring down the poll numbers for Trump and Carson and pump up those for Fiorina and Rubio. We will have to wait about a week to see how this plays out.
One last note: the two CNN moderators, especially Dana Bash, were hostile in their questioning. During the Fox debate, the moderators asked hard questions but let the candidates answer them. The CNN moderators took many opportunities to comment on the answers given by the candidates in a very unprofessional and inappropriate way. Dana Bash seemed to be arguing with the candidates on many occasions. On the other hand, Hugh Hewitt did a good job.
1. Some of those on the stage did poorly. The worst by far seemed to be Rand Paul. His foreign policy views are enough to make any Republican interested in national security start to squirm in his or her seat. Another candidate who did not help himself tonight was Mike Huckabee. He had a few moments when he took forceful positions, but mostly he was just an amiable addition to the background noise. A third candidate who did not help himself in my opinion was Scott Walker. The Wisconsin governor made his points but he seemed to be someone who could be brushed aside, not exactly the characteristic that one wants to see in a leader. John Kasich also was not a winner. The best description of him tonight is "blah".
2. Donald Trump deserves special mention among those who the debate ought to hurt. Because Trump seems to surmount the problems that would fell a normal campaign we will have to wait to see the polls, but he had some bad moments. Nothing was worse than hearing Trump talk about vaccines causing autism. Dr. Carson talked about the medical studies that prove there is no connection, and that was followed by Trump giving his own "medical" opinion. There were also those moments when Trump was asked about foreign policy specifics. These were not questions about minor details, but rather questions asking how he would deal with Russia, with the situation in Syria and the like. Trump kept saying he would handle the situations, but never HOW he would do so. It was the same on the economy and other subjects. The only place where Trump seemed to have a policy was on immigration, but even there, he was short on details. We will have to see whether aimless blather will satisfy the many current Trump supporters.
3. Ben Carson also gets special mention because he went from some rather poor responses to some rather interesting ones. We will have to see whether the public gives him more latitude because he is not a politician. Of course, I thought Carson's performance last time was so so, and he rocketed up in the polls afterwards. Maybe I missed it here too.
4. The performances by Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz were okay, but neither was outstanding in my opinion. Bush had his best moment by claiming the code name "Energizer" as his own and noting that it was high energy. He stuck, however, to his somewhat pedantic persona in the early confrontations with Trump. I doubt he made much headway with the voters. Cruz made different points in his answers, but they still seemed to be the same answer each time. He came across more like an actor than a candidate.
5. That leaves the three who were tonight's winners: Rubio, Fiorina and Christie. Rubio showed real knowledge of policy and a clear viewpoint as to what he wanted to achieve. For those who may view the Florida senator as someone who is too young to be president, Rubio demonstrated that he seems ready to go on day one. Carly Fiorina also had a series of great moments. Much is being made of her discussion of the Planned Parenthood videos, but my favorite moment of the night came when she was asked about Trump's comments on her looks. Trump had just been talking about how he had heard Bush's words on funding women's health care. Fiorina looked at Trump and said that although Trump wanted now to change what he had said, that she and millions of other women across America had heard his words and knew exactly what he meant. Carly also showed that she is well prepared with facts and figures and could command those facts for use to her advantage. That leaves Christie. For the first time in a while, the Chris Christie who was on that stage is one who had a clear point of view and expressed it both strongly and well. Governor Christie may get a second look from some of the voters.
Overall, I have to say that the debate ought to bring down the poll numbers for Trump and Carson and pump up those for Fiorina and Rubio. We will have to wait about a week to see how this plays out.
One last note: the two CNN moderators, especially Dana Bash, were hostile in their questioning. During the Fox debate, the moderators asked hard questions but let the candidates answer them. The CNN moderators took many opportunities to comment on the answers given by the candidates in a very unprofessional and inappropriate way. Dana Bash seemed to be arguing with the candidates on many occasions. On the other hand, Hugh Hewitt did a good job.
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