My takes from the 10/28/15 GOP Debate:
1) Rubio won. Hands down. The second debate in a
row. Poised and informative, he seems like the best candidate to match
against Clinton.
2) Kasich came out swinging but faded. Christie gained
traction late. Bush had neither fight or traction, it could be the final
nail for him.
3) Explain Ben Carson to me. He doesn’t seem particularly
qualified to be a city council candidate. I think he wins Iowa (just
like Huckabee in ’08 and Santorum in ’12) but then
goes away (just like Huckabee and Santorum).
4) Don’t underestimate
Cruz. He has the organization and money to play long past New Hampshire
and if Trump falls (and I thought he had an okay night) Cruz can do well
in southern primaries.
5) Fiorina, Paul and Huckabee are way back after
this debate.
6) A journalist who says “where did I get that question?”
during a political debate should never do one again. In fact, CNBC
should probably avoid hosting a debate again.
7) It’s not media bias to
ask candidates questions about what the other candidates are saying. And
for the record, Kasich launched an attack on Carson and Trump in his
first thirty second answer – that was not the media.
8) The format was
terrible. Ask a question and give every candidate thirty seconds to take
a whack at it.