Undercard Debate Highlighted GOP Divisions

Dan Balz: “If you only watched the three-hour, 11-candidate Republican debate on CNN last week, you missed something valuable. In some ways, the preliminary forum proved to be, if not better television, a more enlightening window into the state of the GOP.”

“The main debate was as much about personalities and personal attacks, though it included substantive disagreements about religious liberty vs. the rule of law, immigration and Russian aggression. The undercard forum, after some inevitable talk about Trump, evolved into a spirited and sometimes bluntly argued conversation that highlighted different shades of conservatism and competing ideas about how Republicans should govern and campaign.”