On Wednesday night, the top 10 GOP Presidential candidates met for their third debate. The debate, hosted by CNBC, was originally focused on the economy. But it became clear the moderators themselves and their biased questions became a target.
Here’s how this writer thought the candidates did in order of best to worst. Like every other analysis, this is purely subjective:
1) Ted Cruz – Cruz was the winner of the night. His slam on the media was a competitor for the line of the night. He also did a great job articulating a populist, conservative message that leaves him in a great position to be the nominee. He demonstrated a more likable side at times as well. Cruz demonstrated that he has great stage presence, particularly how he essentially bullied Rand Paul much of the night by better articulating many ideas Paul was known for and was able to essentially take the mic away from him on several occasions. Finally, Cruz is often underrated as a communicator but he demonstrated those skills tonight.
2) Marco Rubio – Also a big winner. While he also got some digs at the media, he essentially killed off Jeb Bush’s candidacy by deflecting his charges about Senate attendance. He also deflected questions on his finances and on immigration. While he did great tonight, those three charges won’t go away. A more able candidate and media will press them. He will have to answer those questions eventually.
3) Chris Christie – The rumors of Chris Christie’s death are unfounded because he’s back. He had a great night, especially when he slammed the moderators for focusing on fantasy football. He also body slammed Jeb in the process. Finally, Christie was very articulate and tough. This was his best performance so far.
4) Donald Trump – Easily the most improved debater. He wasn’t specific at all on policy, but he exudes confidence which is something that cannot be coached. The writer is not a Trump fan, but even he was impressed with him tonight. He certainly won’t lose anything this time. Trump only beatdown a candidate once in the debate and that was when Kasich attacked him and Ben Carson as unserious. Trump then obliterated Kasich’s “record” in Ohio. Finally, he showed a much more likable side that should help with his negatives.\
5) Carly Fiorina – Did not do as well as her last two debates, but she didn’t bomb. Her highlight was when she answered criticisms of her tenure at HP. She also did well attacking crony capitalism. However, she wasn’t very memorable other than that. You have to think her poll numbers continue to slide.
6) Ben Carson – Another “meh” performance. Very weak on policy, but still comes across as very likable. His highlight was when he was given an opportunity to attack Kasich, but he refused to do it. Carson should dip a bit in the polls, but not too bad.
7) Mike Huckabee – Didn’t do too bad either. His highlight of the night was when he was given an opportunity to attack Trump, he actually praised him. But Huckabee’s act of Trump-lite will not go over well. It’s hard to see Huckabee overtaking Carson, Cruz, or Trump.
8) John Kasich – Terrible night for the Ohio governor. He started off trying to attack Carson and Trump and it went poorly. He tried to be the “adult in the room” but he came off more like the Church Lady from Saturday Night Live. He seemed to demonstrate that he was little more than a relic of the 1990s, which is definitely not what Republican voters are looking for. He may have appealed to some moderate Republicans, but he earned no friends among conservatives. Other than that, Kasich was largely forgettable and unlikable.
9) Rand Paul – Managed to put in an even worse performance than the last two debates. Worse for Paul it was on a topic, the economy, that should’ve been helpful for him. His only highlight was his closing statement when he said “I want a government so small you can’t even see it.” Other than it, it was one debacle after another. He bombed a question on entitlements, when all he had to offer was raise the retirement age and means testing. That alienates seniors and those about to retire and it won’t get kids to knock doors. He also got a question on Federal Reserve, only to have Ted Cruz knock it out of the park earlier. Finally to sum up his night, Paul talked about his plan and how he would end the payroll tax only to have Cruz interrupt and essentially say “me too” on the payroll tax and Cruz got the applause. Paul’s poor messaging skills and lack of stage presence came out tonight. At this point, the junior Senator from Kentucky needs to consider ending this race and focusing on re election sooner rather than later.
10) Jeb Bush – Unless Jeb! can turn things around in the next debate, his campaign is dead. Where he lost was when he tried to attack Marco Rubio on missed Senate votes and Rubio nailed him back, essentially calling him a hypocrite for supporting John McCain in 2008 who missed more votes than Rubio has so far. Then he bombed a question on fantasy football that let Chris Christie in the door to body slam him and the moderators. Jeb essentially has no stage presence and has little natural political ability.
Nearly all of these candidates will go at it again on November 10 on Fox Business Network. The only one having polling trouble and may not make it to the main debate is Christie, but based on his performance tonight, he should get a bounce.
The next debate will be make or break for at least three of these candidates.
AAN Staff
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