Tonight's Republican debate was an amazing bit of TV and campaigning. For the first time, Donald Trump really looked foolish. Unlike previous debates in which Marco Rubio generally stayed away from attacking Trump, he went after the Donald with full force. Rubio used Trump's own tactic of just breaking into Trump's answers in much the same way that Trump has done that in many previous debates. Ted Cruz recognized that Trump was looking foolish and joined in the effort too. Perhaps the low point for Trump came when he accused Rubio of repeating himself five times at a debate two weeks ago and Rubio pointed out that Trump had just repeated himself five times in the previous minute.
The big issue of the debate is how the audience felt about all the fighting. If the audience was not turned off by the verbal sparring, then the big winner tonight was clearly Marco Rubio. He was strong, assertive, presidential and cheerful all at the same time. He seemed reasonable and was never hurt by any of the attacks made on him. Governor Kasich also had a very good night. He performed much better than he has in most of the previous debates. His answer that emphasized jobs, jobs, jobs was probably the most effective of the night.
Ted Cruz did quite well tonight also, although he hurt himself a bit with his closing. His laundry list of the things he would do on his first day came across as the ever more strident ravings of someone with a screw loose.
Dr. Carson was on the stage. One has to wonder why. He had little to say, although, to be fair, his answer on replacing Obamacare was very good.
The clear loser tonight was Trump. When Rubio and Cruz called for Trump to outline his plan for replacing Obamacare, it was an amazing moment. Oh, Trump was not at a loss for words, but he clearly was at a loss for ideas. He spoke about removing "the lines around the states" and then went off into double talk. Both Rubio and Cruz called him on it and their attacks hit the mark. It remains to be seen if the viewers understood just how paltry Trump's response was, but for anyone who understands the healthcare issue, Trump's answer clearly was a disaster. Trump also looked foolish in discussing the Israel issue. When Rubio pointed out that Trump was treating the Arab-Israeli conflict like he was building condos in the West Bank, it was a really telling blow. To be fair, Trump was his usual debate self. He kept lobbing nasty jabs, but for the very first time at these debates, he got called out for it over and over.
Of course, the biggest loser of the night was the CNN team of moderators. They totally lost control of the event. There were at least three times when multiple candidates just kept talking for 30 or even sixty seconds without being stopped. It was impossible to understand what was being said, and it was a disgraceful performance by Blitzer and the other CNN people. It also, however, was a tactic that was used effectively by Rubio and Cruz. Rather than letting Trump jump in and control the conversation, they kept talking and denied him that weapon.
It will be interesting to see if this shakes up the primaries in the next few days. If it does anything, it should shake some people loose from Trump and move Rubio way up in the polls.
The big issue of the debate is how the audience felt about all the fighting. If the audience was not turned off by the verbal sparring, then the big winner tonight was clearly Marco Rubio. He was strong, assertive, presidential and cheerful all at the same time. He seemed reasonable and was never hurt by any of the attacks made on him. Governor Kasich also had a very good night. He performed much better than he has in most of the previous debates. His answer that emphasized jobs, jobs, jobs was probably the most effective of the night.
Ted Cruz did quite well tonight also, although he hurt himself a bit with his closing. His laundry list of the things he would do on his first day came across as the ever more strident ravings of someone with a screw loose.
Dr. Carson was on the stage. One has to wonder why. He had little to say, although, to be fair, his answer on replacing Obamacare was very good.
The clear loser tonight was Trump. When Rubio and Cruz called for Trump to outline his plan for replacing Obamacare, it was an amazing moment. Oh, Trump was not at a loss for words, but he clearly was at a loss for ideas. He spoke about removing "the lines around the states" and then went off into double talk. Both Rubio and Cruz called him on it and their attacks hit the mark. It remains to be seen if the viewers understood just how paltry Trump's response was, but for anyone who understands the healthcare issue, Trump's answer clearly was a disaster. Trump also looked foolish in discussing the Israel issue. When Rubio pointed out that Trump was treating the Arab-Israeli conflict like he was building condos in the West Bank, it was a really telling blow. To be fair, Trump was his usual debate self. He kept lobbing nasty jabs, but for the very first time at these debates, he got called out for it over and over.
Of course, the biggest loser of the night was the CNN team of moderators. They totally lost control of the event. There were at least three times when multiple candidates just kept talking for 30 or even sixty seconds without being stopped. It was impossible to understand what was being said, and it was a disgraceful performance by Blitzer and the other CNN people. It also, however, was a tactic that was used effectively by Rubio and Cruz. Rather than letting Trump jump in and control the conversation, they kept talking and denied him that weapon.
It will be interesting to see if this shakes up the primaries in the next few days. If it does anything, it should shake some people loose from Trump and move Rubio way up in the polls.
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