In what was the most aggressive, most cutthroat debate yet, all five candidates - excepting the somnolent Ben Carson - upped the anger ante in the presidential race. Here’s what we learned:
Trump has clearly been advised that bullying Jeb Bush is a vote-winner; he spent a large amount of his overwhelming speaking time slamming the former Florida governor with the political equivalent of pushing his face in a toilet-bowl of his own campaign finance history and shouting “you gonna cry? you gonna cry?”
Ben Carson used a quote from Stalin - about it being a “healthy body” that in order to destroy “you have to undermine three principles: their spiritual life, their patriotism, and their morality” - that appears to be utterly and entirely fabricated.
If Marco Rubio could speak to any historical president, it would be - surprise, surprise - Ronald Reagan.
Donald Trump supports Planned Parenthood - at least in part - and is willing to say so in a televised Republican debate, which is pretty much unprecedented.
Jeb Bush said he’d moon someone, but it is relatively unclear whom, and whether he ever went through with it.
Ben Carson wants you to go to his website. He said this at least five times.
“Jeez, oh man,” as spoken by John Kasich, is about as accurate a summary of the current Republican primary as we’re likely to hear, and is likely to become a catchphrase.
Ted Cruz doesn’t speak Spanish. At least, according to a comeback smackdown by Marco Rubio, which the Texas senator didn’t deny.
9/11 is still just as strong an issue in this campaign as it ever was; mainly because of Bush’s line that his brother “kept us safe,” and Trump’s rebuttal - repeated several times, that “the World Trade Center came down on [George W’s] watch.”
The South Carolina primary is Sunday, February 20 - we’ll see you there.
The big question is whether any of that 30%-plus of Republicans who are considered Trump voters have tired of his act. My guess is they have not, and view his continued bellicosity – on display again tonight – as strength.
This was another strong debate from Bush, but it might be too little too late. Cruz started strong with his Scalia question, but seemed to fade.
And, one big question heading into this debate is whether Rubio would find his bearings and shake off the #RubioBot tag. And, it was the old Rubio: he offered smart, concise answers that seemed maybe a bit too smooth but not canned. He was more energetic young McKinsey consultant than Lt Commander Data and, for the most part, he escaped the unpleasant on-stage bickering and stayed out of Trump’s sites.
My grades: Rubio A-; Bush B+; Trump B; Kasich B; Cruz B-; Carson C+. Trump is still the favorite to win South Carolina a week from now, but maybe Rubio and Bush will get a bit of a lift from this debate.
“The next president is going to be confronted with an unforseen challenge ... the question for South Carolinians is: who do you want sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office.”
Carson next. “This is the first generation expected not to do better than their parents. People say this is the new normal, but there’s nothing normal about it.”
Quotes Josef Stalin, which is probably a first, then says “we, the people, can stop that decline.”
Says, in answer to people who says he can’t win: “not only can we win, but we can turn this thing around.”
Kasich first, with a strong, positive message. “Whoever gets elected here, hopefully we’ll solve the issue of wages ... but the spirit of America doesn’t come from the top down, the spirit of America rests in us.”
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