His answer worked for me. Because it showed that he’s the only one that knows what the hell he is talking about, while the others voice vague platitudes. Too technical for a debate, maybe. But it certainly was not a screw up. He could have parroted what the others were saying but chose a different angle. I’ll give the technical part of the answer a b- and the preface, ‘that one shouldn’t try to answer this in 60 seconds’ an A-. And the fact he talked over his allotted time an A+.
I'm sure it did. I'm more concerned that he not scare off people who would otherwise find his positions on other issues attractive. I'd give it a C, with the rest in the A category. Unfortunately, that's not how you want to finish. On the whole, I was very happy with his presentation.