Perhaps people saw and heard what they wanted to see and hear.
I thought the big losers were Megyn Kelley and Fox. Last night, the questioning as it was handled gave us a lot more insight into the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate than the mess Fox created did.
They stuck to the 30 second rebuttal for any candidate that was specifically named. About half way through most of the others caught on. The reason Trump got so much time is every time someone attacked him, it was 30 seconds more for which he owned the stage. I thought the net result was they showed some bonding toward the end, especially that vaccine dialog and the agreement that vaccines should be spread out (has any media outlet reported it that way?)
Jeb did awful! He said John Roberts is a good SC judge, for heaven's sake! I agree that Rubio did handle the debate very well. Kasich did himself in. Trump has to up his game with more facts and less insults, since the others have improved.
JMHO
On board with your assessment except Rubio did not connect for me. Maybe my expectations for him are too high since at the beginning of the cycle I expected a lot from him. There is something lacking in strength with his delivery.
Also, we need a president who can line out our legislators and he has not been a fighter. He’s rarely been there for the fights Cruz has taken on. He, like so many others, has been intimidated by McConnell.