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| The Republicans Debate in Detroit |
1) John Kasich saved the night for the Republican Party. He sounded responsible and refused to get down in the gutter, instead offering substantive answers to questions. Kasich will not win the GOP nomination, but on paper he’s the strongest choice. Kasich is now likely to win his winner-take-all state of Ohio on March 15th. That will slightly slow down the Donald Trump momentum.
2) Trump was spectacularly awful. He started the debate by mentioning the size of his hands (in response to Marco Rubio accusing him of having small hands) and guaranteeing to the audience his penis wasn’t small. You cannot make this up. Trump took punches from Rubio, Ted Cruz and the Fox News questioners, but despite admitting he was now softening his
proposals on illegal immigration, and refusing to release an off-the-record conversation about it, he was still standing at the end. I’m not so sure any of his opponents could get more votes than him one-on-one. He may not know what he’s talking about, and that’s what his supporters love about him. Hard to fight that with facts.
3) Ted Cruz was polished and had several good moments. However he keeps making the flawed case that he’s the only one that can bring Trump down. If Cruz can’t win in his firewall region, the South, in states like Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and Louisiana, his southern narrative is shot. Marco Rubio looked terrible, like he hadn’t slept in
days, and he was sweaty and hoarse. It was not a strong night for him. It didn’t help that Trump kept calling him “little Marco.” We’ve learned he’s canceled campaign stops in Louisiana and Kentucky to return to Florida. That’s a good move. It’s still unclear whether he’ll win his own winner-take-all state.
BONUS 4) Abraham Lincoln, the greatest American who ever walked the face of the earth, would not have recognized the Republican Party tonight. In fact, he would have been
embarrassed (can you imagine him talking penis size in debates with Stephen Douglas?) Trump has brought the bar down so low – to reality TV standards. It was crude, loud, argumentative – like a battle for fraternity president among a bunch of white guys. There was no overriding theme to unite or inspire Americans. The ugliest debate I’ve
ever seen, and I’ve watched a lot of them.