If this were a two-hour debate, it would’ve been a great debate. But they first had to survive the night.
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A presidential debate in 2015 is only half the battle. “We have one now”.
Almost 23 million people watched the marathon Republican presidential debate on CNN, and now the candidates are back out on the campaign trail. That’s true. That Eveready joke, of course, a response to Donald Trump’s needling of Jeb Bush all through the summer of being a low-energy candidate.
So where was Hillary Clinton while the republicans were duking it out?
Then, Carly Fiorina had a chance to comeback at Donald Trump after comments made previously in the month about her face. It’s nearly as if he was questioning Jeb Bush’s manhood.
DONALD TRUMP: Jeb, I was a businessman. I got along with everybody. To steal from the title of one of his books, Trump is all about the art of the deal. It was, you’d think, a awful moment for the Donald.
“A little last minute debate prep going on here”, he said, holding up a tablet with one of Trump’s NBC “Apprentice” shows playing. I like that.
Mr Trump owes his frontrunner status in the Republican field in large part to his successful presentation of himself as a political outsider who is unafraid to speak the unvarnished truth and is too rich to be beholden to special interests.
“I never attacked him on his looks and believe me there is plenty of subject matter there I can tell you”, Trump said. I heard it myself.
“We are 53 percent of the voting block”.
Where Trump did falter, he said, was when questions focused on his ideas. I have a proven record.
Rand Paul: His supporters will still support him, but for a guy who promised to mix it up, he seemed exhausted and dispirited.
Asked about whether that was a fair reprimand, “I think she was being rude”, Christie told CNBC Friday.
He also promised “more to come” on the issue. He also said he “will know more about the problems of this world” by the time he became president. When Fiorina got the question, she was ready: “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said“.
GWEN IFILL: Trump, in turn, dismissed Fiorina as a failure in business.
The third Republican outsider, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, maintained a positive outlook throughout the night, in keeping with his image as the GOP’s most likeable candidate. They could care less about your careers. Marco Rubio with six percent.
Since that’s how you, you know, “win” an election. Lindsey Graham and Gov. Bobby Jindal.
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Let’s turn to the Democrats. “But I didn’t see it as standout”.
