So, what did I miss in the GOP debate last night?

[Scout26]

Since I lack TV, I missed this one (I was at my parents for the first one.)

Haven't seen much in my news feed other then a pic of Donald either looking for a high five from Dr. Carson or he's telling him to talk to the hand, not sure which.  And other folks now saying that there's no way they would vote for Dr. Carson.  Rand Paul had a "Rand Won" statement and meme put out on FB, but it only said he talked about his 14.5% flat tax.

So what else did and miss and who do you think won?

[grampster]

The most important question asked during the debate was which woman did they think should be on the ten dollar bill.   Trump said something about that he didn't think there were ten dollar hookers anymore.  All the rest of them said Trump was wrong, that hundreds of thousands of ten dollar hookers were coming across our southern border and that was a good thing because America needs ten dollar hookers and no Americans would do that job for ten dollars.  Oh, wait.  Carly pulled out a handgun and shot one of the moderators at that point.  TV went blank then, so I don't know what happened.

[zxcvbob]

The most important question asked during the debate was which woman did they think should be on the ten dollar bill.   Trump said something about that he didn't think there were ten dollar hookers anymore.  All the rest of them said Trump was wrong, that hundreds of thousands of ten dollar hookers were coming across our southern border and that was a good thing because America needs ten dollar hookers and [no] Americans would do that job for ten dollars.  Oh, wait.  Carly pulled out a handgun and shot one of the moderators at that point.  TV went blank then, so I don't know what happened.

Damn, I missed it!  That actually sounds entertaining.

[Scout26]

Hell, I would pay money to watch that!!!!



P.S. Which CNN anchor did she shoot?  And why only one?

[Ben]

So my take:

I thought Walker did much better than at the first debate. Less nodding his head about what others were saying and more being his own man. He still doesn't have a 'presidential" air about him at the podium though. I kinda think he looks like a High School student body president. That shouldn't matter, but it often does.

Carson was almost too polite and soft spoken. He did make some concrete statements vs the Trump style "I'll just do it" statements. I appreciated that even if I didn't agree with everything.

Bush was Bush. Christie was Christie.

Cruz didn't seem to get too many chances to speak.

Rubio was very well spoken and his demeanor was such that it compelled you to pay attention to what he said, even if you didn't agree with it. The whole "speaking Spanish" thing kinda irritated me. Same when Bush was defending it.

Kasich almost seemed like a Democrat from points he was making.

Paul seemed to be struggling to be one of the pack. He said some good stuff and ke[pt to his libertarian roots, but came off kinda second string.

Huckabee made some very good points, especially regarding Iran and Islamic terrorism, but he just doesn't do it for me as a potential president for some reason.

Trump once again just focused on 8th grade put downs of his competitors. He also continued to play hard to his " I will do X,Y and Z and they'll just be done because I'm awesome" shtick without, again, a single example of how. Especially with the logistically impossible immediate deportation of all illegals. Christie was correct that the manpower and infrastructure just doesn't exist to make that possible. He would be more believable if he at least said "within "X" years". He is sounding more and more like a Republican Obama - all emotion, no substance. I did appreciate that he clearly stated that English is the language of the US.

Fiorina once again impressed. Not only in her elegant retort to Trump's put down of her appearance, but in her concrete and clear statements regarding Iran and Planned Parenthood. She also actually ticked off things that she would do, down to the numbers, including battalion and fleet strengths for the military. That was actually quite impressive to me, especially considering the others would only say, "a strong military", or "I support the military". I'm keeping my eye on her.

There was a question on the 2nd Amendment, but only a few of them got to answer. Cruz, Bush, and I forget who else. All those who answered were strongly pro though. I would have liked to hear all of them answer. I know Carson and Christie are both kind of fence sitters on it.

The ten dollar bill and "call sign" questions were lame.

[Balog]

%50-60 of the questions were "So Candidate X, Candidate Y said you were stupid and called your wife a whore. Please respond."
%10 were nonsensical fluff.
The rest were decent. One Second Amendment question, they talked about it for like 10 seconds apiece and Cruz got cut off by that loathesome eunuch Jake Tapper.

As for the candidates...

Trump has no substantiative plans, and doesn't do his flippant insult play to the crowd thing well in a small space without a friendly audience. He's super "weird uncle Chester" creepy whenever he talks about women, and he thinks vaccines cause autism. He's right about politicians being bought and paid for whores and needing to shut the border down. One of his supporters on the radio this morning perfectly sums up both why people like him and why so many are confused about his support. Paraphrased, it was "He really hates politicians like I do, and I don't care about anything else."

Carson is brilliant. He also whispers, mumbles, and seems incredibly hesitant. Very cautious, which I like in a brain surgeon a lot more than I do in a President. He also has some bizarre policy stands, like calling for a two tiered minimum wage that's indexed to... something.

Carly Fiorina had a lot of good lines, and was generally regarded as "winning" the debate. Quick on her feet, the most passionately emotional on the Planned Parenthood videos (voice was trembling with anger). Mild bitchy resting face, and came out strong as a drug warrior with an anecdote about her kid ODing on pot needles or something. Talked a lot about Iran, and took advantage of Tapper the Eunuch's reluctance to interrupt her by just ignoring him which I loved.

The sack of lard from NJ had some solid lines, and wouldn't stop dancing on the grave of the 9/11 dead to advance his career. Vile and disgusting man.

Huckabee did really well, which is unfortunate as I dislike the man. Came across as the level headed elder statesman focussed on attacking Hillary not his fellow R's. He even had a really measured and totally reasonable answer to Kim Davis which surprised me. If I didn't know his record I'd like him a lot right now.

Cruz is very smart and has good arguments. His delivery sucks and he comes across as unlikable as a person. Tapper constantly cut him off short, it was obvious the moderator hates him. I think he'd do well as a President, don't know how well he'd do getting elected.

Rubio did well, fiery and passionate without descending into name calling and squabbling. If he wasn't a favor de la amnistía he'd be more interesting. Loves him some foreign intervention.

Jeb! Bush is like a fatter Mitt Romney. He got as upset about Trump calling out his brother's screwups as Fiorina got about abortion. Pathetic establishment turd. I tried to ignore him. Oh, and he smoked the devil weed back in the day which leads us to...

Rand Paul didn't get to talk much, made some excellent points, came across as not very likable. I think he also got into a slap fight with Trump at one point but I missed it. Lack of face time, lack of debate impact. Called Jeb a hypocrite who used his wealth power and privilege to avoid punishment for his drug use in a way that poor people esp blacks and hispanics could not. I thought it was an excellent point, but given some of the stupider elements of the R base I think being pro-pot and mentioning minorities in a positive light might hurt him.

Walker had even less screen time than Rand and suffered similarly for it. Seems like a competent dude, and his stuff on not backing down from union thugs threatening his family's life was excellent.

Oh, and Gary Shandling was up there doing a John McCain impression skit which seemed weird.