It’s unreal that we choose our presidential candidates this way. The party primary process has devolved to the point where we would probably be much better off with candidates chosen in smoke-filled backrooms.
Carly Fiorina was an obvious winner because she was clear, forceful and stood out among the 11 candidates on stage. Ben Carson was a winner, because he rose above the food fight. Donald Trump dominated the air time once again but likely won over few new supporters. It speaks volumes that all three have never been elected to anything.
John Kasich and Marco Rubio continue to be very strong candidates if the GOP Establishment can somehow seize back control of the party. They’re both talented politicians and would formidable challengers to any Democrat.
Meanwhile, Jeb Bush’s donors must be actively seeking a new candidate after his very weak performance. With the exception of defending his wife and admitting he smoked pot, he’s just not very good on the debate stage.
Ted Cruz remains the frontrunner of the far right, thus making Mike Huckabee’s candidacy a sideshow. Rand Paul is completely irrelevant to this party.
Leading the most-improved category was Scott Walker. It came just in time, as it might have been his last chance to reverse what has been an epic slide in the polls over the last few months. Chris Christie also had a much-improved night but it’s hard to see how he breaks through.
A big loser tonight was CNN. The debate was much too long and didn’t come close to the hype. It will be interesting to see how many viewers tuned out during the hour.
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