So the latest GOP presidential debate is now in the past. This will always be remembered as the one for which Trump was a no show. If Trump wins the Iowa caucus on Monday, more future candidates may stay away from debates. On the other hand, if Trump loses after leading in the polls (much in the same way Reagan lost after skipping a debate in 1980), the hegemony of these debates will be re-established.
Now that the obligatory Trump discussion is out of the way, let's get to the winners and the losers tonight.
It's easy once again to pick losers. Perhaps the biggest loser was Dr. Ben Carson. His answers often seemed to be to different questions than the one the moderator asked. His closing statement reciting the first lines of the Constitution was truly bizarre. If his candidacy was not over prior to tonight, it surely ended with this debate.
A second loser was senator Rand Paul. He was back in the main debate, but he seemed marginalized at best. His best answer of the night was an attack on Ted Cruz which may have hurt Cruz but did little to promote Paul. He needed something that would gain him voters, but he did not come up with it tonight.
The third loser was Jeb Bush. Bush was better than his usual self, but even so, that wasn't too good.
Now for the winners: probably the best performances tonight were by Chris Christie and Marco Rubio. Each had some very strong moments and some that were not so good. Rubio got smashed by the video montage of his prior statements on amnesty and yet he managed to take that onslaught and hold his own in response. He had by far the best closing statement. He also managed to push an optimistic message for the most part. Too many of his answers had the quality of prepared sound bites, however. Christie was forceful and clear. His closing was weak, but his answers to questions were probably the best of the group.
That leaves John Kasich and Ted Cruz. Kasich started out remarkably strong. Indeed, after the first hour, I thought that he was winning the debate. Then the normal Kasich resurfaced. We heard answers that wandered all over the place as if Kasich had no idea what to say so he threw in everything. It finished with a rambling closing statement that Kasich seemed unable to end. Overall, Kasich did not help himself tonight.
Senator Cruz gave his usual good debate performance. The problem was that he often seemed smarmy. Cruz also got hit with a video montage that showed his prior position on amnesty that he now tries to deny. Cruz tried to disavow the video, and that was a mistake. Cruz kept talking about how he stands with Jeff Sessions on this point, but he never explained the obvious question as to why senator Sessions has not endorsed him. For much of the debate, Cruz seemed to be defensive which was odd since Cruz's normal antagonist, Donald Trump was not there.
We will have to wait until Monday to see how, if at all, the debate changes the caucus results from those shown in the latest polls.
Now that the obligatory Trump discussion is out of the way, let's get to the winners and the losers tonight.
It's easy once again to pick losers. Perhaps the biggest loser was Dr. Ben Carson. His answers often seemed to be to different questions than the one the moderator asked. His closing statement reciting the first lines of the Constitution was truly bizarre. If his candidacy was not over prior to tonight, it surely ended with this debate.
A second loser was senator Rand Paul. He was back in the main debate, but he seemed marginalized at best. His best answer of the night was an attack on Ted Cruz which may have hurt Cruz but did little to promote Paul. He needed something that would gain him voters, but he did not come up with it tonight.
The third loser was Jeb Bush. Bush was better than his usual self, but even so, that wasn't too good.
Now for the winners: probably the best performances tonight were by Chris Christie and Marco Rubio. Each had some very strong moments and some that were not so good. Rubio got smashed by the video montage of his prior statements on amnesty and yet he managed to take that onslaught and hold his own in response. He had by far the best closing statement. He also managed to push an optimistic message for the most part. Too many of his answers had the quality of prepared sound bites, however. Christie was forceful and clear. His closing was weak, but his answers to questions were probably the best of the group.
That leaves John Kasich and Ted Cruz. Kasich started out remarkably strong. Indeed, after the first hour, I thought that he was winning the debate. Then the normal Kasich resurfaced. We heard answers that wandered all over the place as if Kasich had no idea what to say so he threw in everything. It finished with a rambling closing statement that Kasich seemed unable to end. Overall, Kasich did not help himself tonight.
Senator Cruz gave his usual good debate performance. The problem was that he often seemed smarmy. Cruz also got hit with a video montage that showed his prior position on amnesty that he now tries to deny. Cruz tried to disavow the video, and that was a mistake. Cruz kept talking about how he stands with Jeff Sessions on this point, but he never explained the obvious question as to why senator Sessions has not endorsed him. For much of the debate, Cruz seemed to be defensive which was odd since Cruz's normal antagonist, Donald Trump was not there.
We will have to wait until Monday to see how, if at all, the debate changes the caucus results from those shown in the latest polls.
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