Well, it’s all said and done. The first GOP debate is over. Who, in your mind, won the debate?
Personally, I think you can stick a fork in Donald Trump. He’s done. If he wasn’t proving himself to be a candidate who was all about is own ego, he was showing his unelectability as he attacked women. (Megyn Kelly was really good as a moderator, BTW.)
I was pleased to see Chris Christie do well. And Mike Huckabee proved himself to be a real contender.
But enough about my biases, who did you like in the debate?
Super impressed with Kasich. Solid background of experience, good morals, and a good leader!
I think Kasich, Rubio, and Christie had the best performances. I’m not saying it was enough to secure my vote, but they made me pay attention to what they were saying.
I think Carly killed the first debate. If enough saw it, she moves into the top tier.
Everyone on the second stage did what they wanted and needed to do except Trump. I even liked the Christie-Paul dust-up as it showed an issue where our conservative-libertarian heart struggles honestly.
I have no idea who drops to lower tier when Carly comes up. I hate to say it but it might be Walker or Paul (two of my favorites).
Super impressed with Rubio. I was hoping for more from Walker, though he didn’t hurt himself. Bush may have money but he doesn’t have “it.” Trump? It’s too bad really, as I like his honesty but he just does not know when enough is enough…tact is everything and he blew it.
wow. my take on the night was somewhat different. agreed on this: rubio and fiorina made major gains for themselves, gained some great increase in gravitas going forward. otherwise, 1. the FOX hosts were un-journalistic – when they weren’t asking questions that betrayed a republican-establishment bias, they were displaying an unseemly level of camraderie with the candidates which i suspect wouldn’t be present at all in a democrat debate. fox has actual journalists named o’reilly, van susteren and smith, who should be called in for any future debate moderation. 2. donald trump met expectations and i suppose exceeded them by surviving the night largely intact and even garnering some love from a couple of fellows on the dais. huckabee’s final remark which bashed hillary after a trump setup was funny. 3. i know more about carson now in regard to how he comes across on the firing line, but i still don’t see him as a president. sorry. 4. cruz was whiny but consistent, rand was whiny and sooo annoying, can someone tell him he’s a libertarian?
great: rubio and fiorina …. good: kasich, cruz, christie, bush, walker, trump – in that order …. needing to reconsider their future: carson, huckabee, paul.
Rubio probably had the smoothest delivery. It’s too bad he’s an establishment neocon. I thought Rand Paul’s defense of the Fourth Amendment was epic:
Upon reflection over night, I think the real winner was the GOP. My evidence was how stumbling DEmocrat National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was in her comments with Megyn after. Like her or not, she is normally sharp and effective in critique of anything GOP. Last night, her best line was they are interchangeable. And, that my friends is good for the GOP. We now have the opportunity to choose the best of great choices and then go into the general more united than we ever have been since 1980.
I am most proud to be a Republican esp. after even watching the first debate over. Perry and Jindal did great but unfortunately got over-shadowed by what may be the best debate performance of my lifetime.
That is what made this debate so good. In most presidential years, the GOP would be lucky to have the collective talent of the undercard debate running. Almost everyone on the stage (including Trump if he had a brain) for both debates have a very strong and credible argument that they can lead.
The morning press reports are all Carly. I wonder how much of this is momentum and how much is the press’ penchant for anointing a new face for the sole purpose of tearing them down, a la Rick Perry. She won’t give them the Uf-Da moments Stiff Rick did, but, there is gamesmanship afoot. Her responses to the all the “evil corporate” off-shoring, job-cutting, etc. stories that will flood the media in weeks to come will determine if she’s a contender or not.
Prediction: Trump will answer all his business failure jabs by pointing to HP’s performance and call her the “biggest loser CEO in American history”.
So, as I’m tying the above, she gets the HP question on Morning Joe. Great answer, including a reference to how many patents a day they were getting when she left. Then she goes on to say how she started out as a secretary in a nine-person real estate firm and her husband drove a truck.
Well done.
Donald Trump was, once again, an embarrassment to Republicans. He tried to defend his reprehensible comments regarding some women by saying that he is not politically correct. There is a difference between being crude, offensive, and un-Presidential (particularly in his comment that a women would look good on her knees) and being politically incorrect. I would like a President whom children can admire and emulate. Calling Megyn Kelly a bimbo via Twitter after the debate only dug his hole deeper. He lashes out at anyone who dares to differ with or challenge him by calling them names. He is like a spoiled, narcissistic child, and that should disqualify him to be the leader of the free world.
Agree with last sentence, we already have one of those.
My guy JEB was the most Presidential. @Mr. Powers …. http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/drudge-poll-donald-trump-wins/2015/08/07/id/666039/
why is jeb your guy, was he lighting up a doob during the commercial breaks?
Well, if Porter likes Jeb, I’d say we had better stick a fork in Jeb as he is done! I also heard a comment somewhere from a donor that gave to both Hillary and Jeb as they were pretty much interchangeable. In other words, Jeb is establishment, and we see how well that has worked out for the GOP.
Kasich and Rubio had good nights. What is the establishment to do with bush? He looked worse than his brother and that’s not good.
Kasich and Rubio came across confident and smooth. Carson was not flustered and quick on his feet. Donald was “the Donald,” no change in perception, which I think he needed at least in part. Bush did OK, but not what you would expect from a front runner. Big loser in my mind was Rand Paul. His big defense of the 4th just came across angry and disconnected. Christie may get a bump from the exchange with Paul, but not much. Everyone else was hurt by the lack of their own “uh-ha” moments.
I see Trump, Christie, and Jeb as the biggest losers. Trump will actually go down in the polls and the other two stay constant for a little while. The moderators really spelled out Jeb and Christie’s liberal pasts and allowed them to defend it. Cruz and Carly will probably pick up Trump’s initial losses. Rand Paul just fired up his base so he will rise a couple points. Did anyone else catch the rumors of a Trump/Cruz coalition going on? Then watch him go straight to Trump at the end of the debate.
By the way, the most Presidential (among many good ones) moment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IYpb38IpYA (begins around 39 minutes). It goes to real leadership (vision & action based on actually being a leader).
Bush was less articulate than his brother. Walker is weak. Paul should run for a state legislative seat — not ready for prime time. Cruz is angry. Carson should go be a doctor – had a good closing statement but that’s about it. Huck was fine but can you really see him as President — no. It’s Rubio as the winner. Kasich did well especially as the #10 seed.
Carly won the first debate easily. She was able to stand out in a way above the rest that no one else did in the second debate. Rubio did well in the second debate. Trump and Paul did not do very well. Both were all about their ego though obviously more so for Trump. Carly will probably be in the top tier of candidates for the next debate. Lindsey Graham comes off as being a depressing whiner. I am presuming that he has been on Xanax since Pax Romana came to an end, the last time the Middle East was not a chaotic mess.
I would be interested to know if anyone changed horses after last night? And, if so, why?
A lot of folks who weren’t Trump fans before the debate like him now. He knows that if he is the Republican nominee, a huge chunk of Republican women will vote form him no matter what he says about women. He knows that a huge chunk of Republican men will vote for him despite his few business failures that cost a lot of investors money. Hey – they’re not babies – those bankers.
Rubio did not do to bad, but someone is going to ask him how old the earth is one of these days and then he’ll be done (even though a pretty good number of Republicans also believe the world is 6,000 years old).
Kasich didn’t do himself any harm and really benefited from the hometown crowd. He’s a little too understanding of some of the social issues to win the Republican nomination, but would probably do better with Independents than any other of the guys on stage in a general.
Christie – waayyyyy too much baggage. He will probably have time to clean up his resume and be ready for a hard run after Hillary’s two terms are over.
Jeb – milquetoast.
The rest of them are basically JV players (Rubio is on the JV team too but still many people liked his comments).
that is the most succinct democrat review of a republican event i have ever read. thanks for stopping by.
Heisenberg You posting from New Mexico also? 🙂
ew good one
Governor Chris Christie really asserted himself and did well last night. Those 911 terror attacks hit home with many from Jersey commuting to Manhattan daily. NYC is a prime target for an attack. “Telling it like it is” what Christie is known for is what many voters find appealing these days. I can see support from across party lines voting for Governor Christie for President as what happened in New Jersey(Blue State with a long history of corruption) when he was elected Governor.
can i agree with you on christie? i thought he did an outstanding job, and reminded people why he was the flavor of the day for a big chunk of his early national fame years.
i thought kasich did well in front of the home crowd, and used his record to re-introduce the notion of ‘compassionate conservatism’ without calling it that of course. governors that do well in blue states and battleground states have to do what kasich and christie and bush ended up doing.
i thought rubio was sharp and on point. the heisenberg comment above about “asking the age of the earth” is such democrat-atheist nonsense aimed against all conservatives that it’s probably a badge of honor that that was the only slam that heisenberg could hit rubio with.
i could go on and list why trump, bush, cruz, and walker are on my ‘good’ list – but let’s jump to the ciphers. people are soooo excited about huckabee and i will never understand why. i do understand the payback mechanics of huckabee endorsing rounds in 2014 and rounds endorsing huckabee now. but when he’s on a dais with nine powerful peers he’s nothing special, and his “battle” with christie over saving social security actually established christie’s bona fides as a fiscal hawk, not huck’s. his fair tax overhaul plan hasn’t caught fire in the general population either. there’s very little “there” there for huckabee’s me-too conservatism; there’s libertarianism with a g-o-p paint job for rand paul, and there are well-wishes but limited public policy gravitas for dr carson. these three should rethink things sooner not later.
ultimate loser: the fox news promotional branding “fair and balanced.”
here’s the dark side of all of this. we republicans see these champions all jousting on the field of honor set before us. but let’s look up and look to the horizon, like christie did with his social security shortfall facts last night. this republican “field of battle” will select a republican champion but the “field of battle” is effectively boxed in at all times by the national media, and only moments that can be portrayed as crazy make it into the mainstream media broadcasts.
trump knows the nature of this wall, and my past favorites rudy giuliani and newt gingrich know how to dismantle and get past this wall too. the rest of the pack still makes the mistake of thinking the news outlets are going to be fair to them, they don’t see the danger of “enjoying” the sucking up that fox does. trump is presently one of a number of champions jousting at the tournament, but his refusal to pledge away his negotiating leverage at the behest of the r-n-c serves the heart and hopes of voters who yearn for someone who can defeat the beltway’s ruthless bag of tricks and prevail in the name of traditional american strength. they could care less about republican party purity at this point because, what has that ever gotten them in the past? not much.
fox makes me at turns angry and disgusted by their hubris and obliviousness. with some exceptions, they have ignored the harder work of being THE BEST network of their kind, bar none. they are happy to be generally as bad as msnbc and cnn, but in the opposite direction. there’s no effort to strike the proper overall tone that says “screw the politics, we are fully and completely reporting actual news 24-7.” it would do the country much more good than sucking up to this or that r-n-c darling on any given day. trump, last night, in his direct jousting with THE HOSTS, actually forced them to be the kind of adversarial people they need to be for all candidates.
the winner of the republican nomination, whether crony or newcomer, must have the ability to evade traditional media traps and boxes and go straight to the people. this gut-level understanding of power is what drives the people who prefer trump.
Enquirer,
I agree with what you mentioned about Christie and Kasich. What impressed me about Kasich is his focus on reducing prison populations with an emphasis on helping those with mental illness and addiction. Otherwise a significant number of those who are incarcerated are basically warehoused incarcerated people that we may be just making their illness worse rather than getting them the help they need which should be far more cost effective in the long run.
Jeb Bush just doesn’t seem to have the spark to excite and blended in with the background but his team is a machine just like HRC and not to be taken for granted.
Huckabee should of been debating at 5:00pm but it looks like he will be trading spots with Carly Fiorina who really stood out yesterday.
One thing for sure Chris Christie will be feeling the hate as he already has even before this debate from those who have a financial and addictive interest in Marijuana. Christie has stated he will reverse what has happened in Colorado other states and Tribal lands where Marijuana was legalized which I find encouraging.
I didnt see the early debate, but check out the clip online of Carly Fiorina going toe-to-toe with Chris Matthews of MSNBC. She obliterates him and embarrasses him on his own program. His stunned reaction at the end is simply priceless! She should move up in the polls. She’s good. Really good.
she is awesome and i think about to get her due.
Fiorina topped them all – for both debates. She was so good in the first debate that Fox played a clip of her during the second debate to formulate a question. If you just look at the team in the second debate – Rubio came out on top, Huckabee and then Christie. I was hoping Carson and Kasich would do better.
I saw no real surprises last night.
The only candidate that stood out was Donald Trump, only because he is who he is.
I know some are saying that Trump is done. He is saying what people are thinking, He doesn’t need the money, or the backing of the GOP leadership. He may not win however he going to make the other candidates work for those votes. There are some that say his political filter is broken. I disagree; there are a growing number of people who appreciates what he is saying. In his mind, he is in charge, and he is not going to let any of us minions tell him different. He says what is on his mind in a way that we all understand.
I’m still not ready to get behind any of them, yet.
From the Blaze:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was a “loser” if you’re an educated voter, Beck said, but “low information voters” and progressives might think that Christie did well.
“If you were a progressive Republican, you thought Chris Christie did really well,” Beck continued. “But I think that for non-low information voters, I think Chris Christie really destroyed himself last night. Because we know who he is — and while he’s very, very slick, you know who he is.”
Beck said Christie’s worst moment coincided with Paul’s best moment, when the two tangled over domestic surveillance programs.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/08/07/best-presidential-debate-i-have-ever-seen-beck-breaks-down-the-gop-debate-candidate-by-candidate/
it is totally not shocking that glenn beck fawns over rand paul’s many ramblings, and works overtime to sabotage everyone else out there for “impurity.”
glenn beck is a closet libertarian who is an “independent” only for public consumption. he has a great feel for getting into what the public is thinking, but he’s dogmatically ruthless, as he and his three broadcast team members tag-team to keep the focus on what we all have to do to become LIBERTARIANS which in his mind is the natural fix to every broken universe.
what beck thinks and feels about the issues, has been receding into the background noise ever since the plug was pulled on his fox show, which was the high point of his national fame.
I think the first debate was the best, with Carly coming across great. The second debate just didn’t do it for me as well. The moderators picked who got to answer and who got which questions. They should all be asked the same question, asked VERY succinctly by the moderator, and then given a chance to answer it so we can compare their stances. I was stunned by Megyn Kelly’s question to Trump regarding women; it lowered her in my regard. A debate should allow the people to see the different ways the candidates would answer the SAME questions. It seems the moderators were looking for gotcha questions to certain candidates, and that really surprised me.