Instantaneous impressions:
Kasich - looked and sounded good, presidential. Not flapplable. Surprising.
Cruz - As I expected, excellent. He did however forget a few times that he is not running against Obama. Blew opportunities to tie Obama/Hillary
Christie - He may have “won” vs Paul, but somehow he managed to look “small (!)” in winning.
Paul - disappointing; angry; defensive; Christie got the better of him although I believe Paul is right.
Trump - hard to recover from early “low blow” and a clearly hostile audience/moderators; missed some opportunities.
Rubio - Came off very well. May have been thrown a few softballs.
Carson - Got better as things progressed; still a concern about credentials and toughness.
Walker - OK, but not Mr. Excitement.
Bush - still not a great speaker; doesn’t “feel” presidential; seemed uncomfortable.
Huckabee - was thrown a “bomb” as the first question; never recovered. If YOU can’t explain how you will win, get out.
I wouldn’t pick a winner, but I found Kasich and Cruz the best of the bunch, Kasich being somewhat of a surprise. The “Fat Man/Little Boy” exchange between Christie and Paul was probably not helpful for anyone.
If Fox wanted Trump to look bad, I believe that it will backfire, because Fox looked worse and if anyone didn’t believe that Fox was the instrument of the country club/chamber of commerce wing of the GOP, they do now.
1) Kasich deftly dodged Medicare and somehow made it about crime and drugs. Home field AstroTurf crowd helped.
2) Trump gave very honest and compelling answers about his move to pro-life, the bankruptcies. His wrap up probably connected with average America far more than people think. His somewhat broad answer on the "gotcha" of ISIS general was that he tied everything back to Iran negotiations. "I don't have time for political correctness and neither does this country" will resonate. But early sandbag was vicious. Does Trump come off as honest, though? I think so.
3) Right about Rubio. He got softballs but looked calm, professional. Other than Fiorina, gained the most last night, probably saved his campaign.
4) Carson stumbled at many points, esp on the economy/taxes. He said "proportional" when he meant "flat." However, he finally got rolling and was brilliant in last five minutes. Not a president but a great man who needs a spot in the cabinet.
5) Paul had some very weak moments, despite having great points about domestic snooping. Christie was clearly there to take him out, but looked like a bully, especially visually.
6) Huckabee had some terrific points (especially on military and transgendered) but Fair Tax has had its time and didn't catch on.
7) Bush deftly turned Common Core into an "I care about education". Was browbeat by moderators to kiss and make up with Trump. Often (surprisingly) looked hesitant and uncomfortable. Didn't score like he needed too. One more performance like that and his donors will go to Rubio.
8) Cruz had a VERY slow start, combined with being frozen out along with Carson. His "God" answer was good, but his "first day in office" was awesome. Still, crowd, surprisingly didn't like him---probably because they were stacked for Kasich.
9) Christie got blindsided by Trump's casino comment. While he gave a good answer on the military, it was over people's heads---too early to talk "carrier groups."
10) Walker is a mystery, says most of the right things---but didn't handle job projections question well. I don't know. He just doesn't have "it" and I can't pin it down.
Overall, reading "inside beltway Twitterers, they thought Trump hurt himself. But I don't think so. They want to hear Heritage Foundation solutions that they wrote. But Trump had "Trumpspeak," which just connects. He was the ONLY one all night who mentioned Berghdahl, trade with Mexico and Japan, senators like Cruz and Paul talked "I sponsored this or that legislation." Trump says, "Build the Wall." Walker and Bush talk job numbers---IRRELEVANT to someone out of.a job. Trump says "I'm a businessman who knows how to win."
Classic example of how Trumpspeak connects was his answer on bankruptcy: Wallace said several lenders lost money, and Trump essentially said "so what?" Most Americans say, "Yeah, so what if big banks lost money?" Trump "beat" them without involving gubment.
We will have to see how this plays out in the polls but insiders thinking Trump didn't connect are probably wrong.
Oh, and Martha McCallum in first debate looked like she hadn't even read the questions beforehand, while Megyn Kelly was just rude and nasty. There is a difference between tough questions and constant, deliberate set-ups. "Insiders" will say that it toughened our guys---but Dems will NEVER get these questions.
I noticed Kacich pointed out a few times that his daddy was a mailman. My question is, who was his mother MARRIED to at the time he was conceived? :)