Who Won the Republican Debate? Critics Call Ted Cruz Flat but Jeb Bush Better

NY Times ^ | 1/29/16 | ALAN RAPPEPORT

[jimbo123]

With Donald J. Trump absent from the debate stage, critics had a chance to focus on the rest of the Republican field. While the verdicts varied, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was seen as starting strong but fading late, while Senator Marco Rubio of Florida had his moments but grew testy at times when faced with tough questions. Some thought Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, had one of his most energetic performances, while the retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson barely registered.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Yup! I see a lot of illegal alien invaders “voting” with a strong backing from their commie lib DemocRAT masters. They know that nobody from the Obama regime would dare arrest and fine them.

[TornadoAlley3]

I will ignore these critics and wait for the opinion of the voters of Iowa Monday night.

[maggief]

Here’s that link:

Seven Republican presidential candidates took to the stage for a debate Thursday night, while Donald Trump skipped. Who do you think won?

http://time.com/4196259/republican-debate-poll-seventh-iowa-fox-news/

[ElainaVer]

Totally agree.
It was the second LOWEST debate rate this season.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

"Ted Cruz did well and so did Marco Rubio, but to me, Ben Carson was the winner. He got the hardest questions and answered them well. Jeb Bush, on the other hand, looked wooden.

Actually, studies have shown that Jeb Bush is made out of the wood of the Mexican Glassywood, Ronrón tree.

[pgkdan]

I got up early this am to scan the various morning shows. Fox, MSNBC, CNN and ABC. All they were talking about was Trump!

[Raycpa]

So Jeb has been holding back?

[tennmountainman]

We will hear about ratings very soon.
You can bet on it.

[TomGuy]

Stirewalt on FoxNews pushes Bush as having a big night, but Rubio shining during the second half.

[Wasn’t that the expected narrative pre-debate?]

Names not getting much morning chat: Christie, Huckabee, Kasich.

[tennmountainman]

You liked Megyn when she went after Trump in the worst debate.

[tennmountainman]

First debate.

[cableguymn]

They must not like Carson he hardly got any time to talk.

[SoFloFreeper]

Yeah, I’ll make a choice based on what the CRITICS say.

Sure. :)

[sphinx]

I thought Cruz was ok, not great, but he did have the most memorable line of the night with his tease of Trump right at the start. All of the candidates struck me as solid. No one embarrassed himself. Their supporters will all find confirmation in their performances. Whether the balance was shifted remains to be seen.

The overwhelming impression I had was that it was refreshing to have a substantive, spirited, informed discussion of the issues with no vulgar, ill-informed braggart to toss bombs. The evening was a very effective demonstration of just how destructive Trump has been to anyone. That should be evident to anyone not drunk on Trump-Aid.

[TomGuy]

Names not getting much morning chat: Christie, Huckabee, Kasich.

Addendum:

I completely forgot about Santorum and Fiorina, and apparently the media has, too.

[bray]

Who was the tallest midget in the room?

Pray America wakes

[MrEdd]

And it is not as if the other candidates did not have people who believe in them writing and phoning their campaigns to try and get them to boycott this.

The leftist media needs an elbow in the nose and conservatives are asking their candidates to deliver.

[Sans-Culotte]

I only watched a small section of the debate. I've watched very few of them in their entirety. I started watching when the young woman from south of the border asked her question. I thought Jeb's response was his usual tired old "open borders, we're a nation of immigrants" BS. In the section I watched, I thought Rubio had some good lines:

"Hillary's first act as president will be to pardon herself".

"I think Bernie Sanders would make a great president.....of Sweden".

He also said that Hillary cannot be elected president because she lied to the families who lost sons at Benghazi. I would never vote for Rubio as president, but he had his moments at the debate.

[skeeter]

The media is really telegraphing their intention now.

Bush seemed giddy that his bully wasn't around but he still stuttered like a special needs student, and repeated (to his credit and Rubio's shame) his totally rejected view on how to handle illegal immigration. More RINO pablum.

If what the NYT means is Bush 1/28 beat the crap out of Bush 1/14 then I guess they'd have a point. He did seemed better but he did NOT win last nights debate by any stretch.

[Carthego delenda est]

“They must not like Carson he hardly got any time to talk.”

I think they’re worried he’ll put viewers to sleep.