Posted on 11/11/2015 6:18:36 AM PST by Isara
Ted Cruz had a terrific night. He had a stand-out answer on immigration and wages, and made his own fortune by getting into an argument with John Kasich on bank bailouts, enunciating the anti-bailout position forcefully and repeatedly (although I don't really believe he wouldn't bail out a major financial institution in the midst of a financial panic if he were president). He was pointed, eloquent, and, of course, very conservative.
Marco Rubio was very good, as well. But I thought Rubio was slightly better than Cruz last time, and that Cruz was slightly better this time. Rubio just felt a little off. Journalists were complaining on Twitter about how canned Rubio is, and truth be told, he is during these events (as are Cruz and Carly Fiorina). The trick is hiding it and tonight Rubio seemed to be more obviously downloading speech fragments than in other debates. That said, he won the exchange with Rand Paul on foreign policy, ably defended his child tax credit, and didn't have an affirmatively bad moment.
Both Cruz and Rubio are highly capable of defending themselves. You really never have to worry about them in an exchange, and that quality will stand them in good stead going forward.
Ben Carson was pleasant. He predictably hit the question about his bio out of the park and brought up politically correctness at the end. He, once again, wasn't commanding on the substance, but it hasn't mattered to this point.
Donald Trump was largely subdued, although he perked up to slap down Kasich and broadcast how he has let Fiorina get under his skin with his complaint about her interrupting that got boos. He obviously knows nothing about the TPP that he so passionately opposes, and Rand Paul showed him up on that. He's also at sea on foreign policy. Overall, a more respectable, but still poor showing.
Jeb Bush was definitely better, but just OK. He seemed to lose momentum as the night went on. But it should be enough to stem a potential donor panic.
Carly Fiorina had several nice riffs, and a cutting line at Trump's expense (she met Vladimir Putin and not in a green room).
Rand Paul allowed himself to be Rand Paul. It was his best debate, even if it's hard to see it helping him much.
John Kasich, irritable and out of step with the party, may end up buying himself a ticket to the undercard.
Speaking of that, Chris Christie was the best performer in the early debate, even if he didn't attempt to defend his New Jersey record from Bobby Jindal's repeated jibes. Christie effectively brushed Jindal off, but the Louisiana governor certainly got across the message that he wanted to-that he disdains big government Republicans.
When we have the Article 5 convention of the states we should raise the minimum age for president to 50
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When the Constitution was written, people did not live as long as they do today. Kids matured much faster; got married, had kids and was in the work force by age 15 or 16. Hell, age 35 was age 50 back in those days.
I’ve said it for weeks and I stand by it now: I predict that Ted Cruz will be the stellar candidate who will surprise a lot of people beginning in Iowa, Feb. 1. I predict he will win at least one, maybe two, of the first three Caucus/Primaries and move on to Super Tuesday. Then, it will be “Katy, bar the door.” Just trying to figure out who would be the best Running Mate for him. Carson maybe? Trump would NEVER accept the second spot on a Ticket.
I won’t vote for a ticket with Rubio on it.
Oh please let’s not go there again!
Hello president Hillary!
I won’t vote for Rubio. If something happens to POTUS, he is next in line.
No thanks.
I won’t vote for Rubio. If something happens to POTUS, he is next in line.
No thanks.
If Hillary is president we are screwed from her first day, how about that?
I suggest people pick someone other than an amnesty pimp.
I will not vote for Rubio in the primary but if a majority of the voters select him, then I will vote for him for president because I will vote against Hillary. I will crawl across a field of broken glass to vote against Hillary or any other democrat candidate.
If others had felt this way we wouldn't have been dealing with 8 years of f...ing disaster like we have been!
I am not voting for an amnesty pimp. That is my red line and I am not Obama.
Whoever the VP pick is it should be someone that we are okay with also being POTUS but is it too soon to be thinking about a VP pick? I don’t know. I hate to jinx it by counting chickens before they are hatched.
My dad used to call that cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Sounds a lot like Jeff Dunham and Jose, Jalapeño On A Stick!
Donald Trump to big to fail ! Sarcasm.
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