[Tennessee Nana]

Early voting in Tennessee starting this Wednesday, Feb 10...

[Charles Henrickson]

Rubio did awful in his early exchanges with Christie, i.e., the RoboRubio canned answers. But he did better as the night went along and recovered somewhat. His strong pro-life answer on the abortion question was excellent.

[Windflier]

Caucus Discussion ping

[jobim]

Cruz is, in my opinion, no longer believable. It was embarrassing to hear him tonight
revisit the timeline everyone already knows. We already know Rubio is owned. So that
leaves Trump, who isn't, and who speaks without deception, the only one to do so.

[Charles Henrickson]

Cruz was solid and steady throughout, smart, substantial, coherent—shall we say presidential? He did very well tonight, coming off some less than stellar performances the last couple of debates.

[Fhios]

Trump is defining himself as a moderate on social issues and a conservative on fiscal issues and a Nationalist.

Results ... Trump squeaks by, Cruz comes in 2nd and Rubio will be comes in 3rd in NH. Perhaps Christie may bounce and contend with Rubio. Christie is definitely on Trumps short list of VP.

[jennychase]

TRUMP, leader

[Democrat_media]

Trump won!

Only Trump has stood up against the media, China, Mexico ,illegals, Muslims (All of the enemies of America and freedom). etc. All other politicians have not stood up nor said anything against ALL of these enemies of America.

The media is the main problem that is destroying the USA

Obama signed the USA’s Death Warrant tonight the TPP and Cruz helped obama to pass it even writing an op ed campaigning to give Obama fast track trade authority.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks again for your after Caucus thread Windflier.

Great idea.

[fireman15]

I was a little shocked when Trump shooshed Jeb and then started berating the booing audience. But it was a gutsy thing to do and it also instantly changed the subject from one of Trumps weakest positions and pitted him against the establishment which helps him with most of his followers. I think it made him look a little like a bully, but people want a strong leader to stand up to the rest of the world. So over-all I thought it was actually a good night for Trump with the public... probably much less so with the pundits.

[Lonely Bull]

Table 1: Free Republic Caucus 2016 threads, most recent 15 days

Date	Voting thread	Discussion thread	Results [on www.hotr.us]	Sequence no.
2/07	[link]	[link]	[available later]	19
2/06	[link]	[link]	[link]	18
2/05	[link]	[link]	[link]	17
2/04	[link]	[link]	[link]	16
2/03	[link]	[link]	[link]	15
2/02	[link]	[link]	[link]	14
2/01	[link]	[link]	[link]	13
1/31	[link]	[link]	[link]	12
1/30	[link]	[link]	[link]	11
1/29	[link]	[link]	[link]	10
1/28	[link]	[link]	[link]	9
1/27	[link]	[link]	[link]	8
1/26	[link]	[link]	[link]	7
1/25	[link]	[link]	[link]	6
1/24	[link]	[link]	[link]	5

Table 2: tables with older threads

Dates	Table	Sequence nos.
1/20 - 2/03	[link]	1-15

[georgiarat]

After sleeping on the debate, here is my rankings of performance, not who I support on a 10 point scale where 10 is perfect.

Christie
Trump
Kasich
Cruz
Bush
Rubio
Carson

The debate helped Christie especially as a future VP candidate and will gain him a couple of percentage points in polls. Unless he has some other beaktrough it will not be significant long term

Trump had a couple of good moments, a couple of bad and the rest so-so. Has to have a better “what is a conservative” answer before next debate and get a crisper answer on eminent domain. Did not change is prospects for NH or going forward.

Kasich finished second among the governor’s and helped himself for the NH primary. He could get a bounce because of the electorate there. After NH he has no other viable states, except Vermont and Massachusetts on March 1.

Cruz made two serious errors but had one excellent and several good moments. The Iowa issue is still very bad for him and his timeline answer, immediately countered by CNN, Carson and the other networks will make him look disingenuous, He compounded that mistake by coming back to Iowa as his closing statement which put the issue back on the mind of voters leaving the debate.

Bush will be given credit for his best debate performance to date, not saying much, and actually may remain viable because of Rubio’s canned answers being more than obvious and repeating the same segments multiple times. If Rubio falters too far in the polls the GOPe rallies again around Bush because they have no one else.

Rubio would have been better off claiming he had a bad stomach virus and skipping the debate. He had some really good moments, for instance his what is a conservative answer was excellent as was his defense of his abortion stance. I liked that he hit Obama hard but most view that as a given. He led Trump into what I believe was a misstep on Trump’s part. His Boy in the Bubble moment reinforced that perception that he is only spouting canned talking points and he is not speaking with his views. Has to make one wonder about his answer on conservativim, etc. is that really his belief or is that what he was programmed to say?

Carson is a good man but over his head. He is sincere and will remain a well respected person but not one capable of being president. His Zika answer showed his strength as a doctor and knowledge of the medical profession.

For the record I support Trump first and Cruz second.