The debate was terrible, mostly because the moderators asked ridiculous questions. They asked candidates to name their greatest weakness; they challenged Ben Carson's math skills; they asked Jeb Bush why he's so bad at campaigning; they tried to get the candidates to talk shit about John Boehner and Paul Ryan so that other reporters could go find Boehner and Ryan and ask them if they heard the shit that Ted Cruz talked about them and then queue up some pundit to analyze. Most of the candidates scored points by attacking the media, but none of them really stood out. Here are some stray observations:
- People who like Ben Carson or are inclined to like Ben Carson will probably like him more. Does he really want to be president?
- Donald Trump is boring, probably because he is behaving more like a square politician who sticks to talking points. There's a reason he's falling in the polls.
- Is Jeb Bush still running? Why?
- Rubio did well, but has a tendency to answer questions exclusively in political clichés, woven together seemingly at random.
- Voters might give Chris Christie a second look as soon as Jeb drops out.
- What is the point of Rand Paul?
- Ted Cruz could realistically win the primary. He would be formidable if he had any charisma, and ever said anything surprising that wasn't calculated to get applause.
- Is Mike Huckabee good enough for one more book deal?
- What happened to the Carly "surge"? She seemed like an afterthought.
- John Kasich lives in Ohio!
Another takeaway: Is Hillary Clinton ever going to have to answer questions like the ones the Republicans were asked tonight? Ben Carson was challenged about his association with a shady dietary supplement firm, and whether this reflected poorly on his "judgment"? The next Democratic debate will have to be spread out over multiple days if these sorts of questions are fair game when it comes to the Clintons. Rubio was pressed on his personal finances, whereas the Democratic debate moderators did not ask Hillary to answer questions about the Clinton Foundation or her own mysterious finances.
Disclosure: The author is a Trump campaign donor who was recently unthroned as the "number one Trump fan."