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Where The Republican Candidates Stand After First GOP Debate

Todd Graham is director of debate at Southern Illinois University.

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Keeping his promise to “mix it up” at the debate, Sen. His donations to the Clinton Foundation provided an example of how this worked, Trump went on.

(CNN)Wow, that didn’t take long.

Nice was not exactly how Trump came off. The question was how the others would react.

He’s not a jester, he’s the kind of fool who can do real damage. But most candidates seemed more deferential to the phenomenon of Trump’s surprisingly durable appeal in the polls. He’s not amusing anymore.

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be talking about illegal immigration”, he said, despite the fact that immigration has been a hot-button issue in presidential campaigns for years. “You can’t say tonight that you can make that pledge?”

First, his prejudices. But they’re proud that they never took money from someone who was mean on Twitter to Rosie O’Donnell.

Trump tried to joke initially, but he said testily that he didn’t have time for “total political correctness”. As if that “supposed” negative label would justify his nauseating rhetoric. Last year, that fell to the next nine countries – and by 2020, the U.S. could be spending only as much as the next five biggest countries combined.

Here’s a closer look now at some of the claims made by the candidates.

His comments about Obama’s Iran deal and Mexican immigrants have seen him climb to the top of the polls for people’s most preferred Republican candidate.

Trump had harsh words for Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who conducted a focus group of Republican voters that gave Trump brutal reviews after the debate. These rhetorical choices by Trump are a debater’s (or politician’s) worst nightmare.

‘Well, I’ll tell you what, with Hillary Clinton, I said be at my wedding and she came to my wedding.

As for Trump, his greater relevance may hinge on what happens if he doesn’t get the nomination. He can’t stand being criticized. The Congressional Budget Office projected that having government subsidized health insurance will prompt some people to leave the labor market, since they can get coverage without a job.

What did you think of the debate? Learning how to handle criticism and turning it to your advantage (backward-step-pivot-forward) is what makes the difference. “Obviously, I’m the only one going to raise my hand”. In other words, it was a good night for Christie. While she did not have a chance onstage with Trump, her question for him was perhaps the best of either session. It was more a Fox News assault on Donald Trump than a debate. Heck, everybody’s talking about it. Where’s Trump been?

“This election better be about the future, not the past”, he said. That was pretty much the extent of his specificity.

Ohio Governor John Kasich got loud applause from a hometown crowd in his answer to a question about what he would do if one of his children said they were gay. Trump is a businessman. The naked envy they all displayed for her ex, Obama.

And you, The Donald, will lose to Hillary Clinton, or whomever is the Democratic nominee, because American women vote.

Discussing the Fox News debate, of course, was not the first time that Trump’s and O’Donnell’s names were in the same headline. By the way, this country right now owes $19 trillion.

Early overnight Nielsen ratings suggest that Thursday’s Republican debate was not just the most-watched primary debate in history – it may have been twice as big as the previous record-holder. Examples assist in supporting a point and proving an argument.

In the end, though, the story was Trump, whose message was more downbeat. But I want to win as the Republican.

Thursday’s debate was the first of six party-sanctioned forums scheduled before primary voting begins in February.

Bush challenged Trump on earlier remarks about Mexicans, and Rand Paul did on Trump’s refusal to vow support for the party’s eventual nominee should it be someone not named Trump. “Period”, one respondent said.

Rand Paul attacked him, and rightfully so, as somebody who hedges his bets and buys and sells politicians.

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Bill: Why didn’t you tell me? A good place to start? Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee stated that “the problem is we have a Wall Street-to-Washington access of power that has controlled the political climate”.

Rosie O'Donnell's comeback to Donald Trump after his misogynistic comment