Trump Wins Debate He Didn’t Attend

Aaron Blake: “It could scarcely have turned out better for the absentee front-runner. He decided to skip the debate because it wasn’t worth his time — what with his nearly 40-point lead in the polls. And the candidates who want to beat him spent much of the debate pretending he wasn’t even in the race.”

“Over nearly the whole first hour of the two-hour debate, Trump was invoked substantially only by one candidate, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who lumped him in with other Republicans onstage whom she accused of spending irresponsibly.”

“The risk for Trump in not showing up was that he wouldn’t be able to defend himself. He didn’t have to.”

Steve Benen: “How does a candidate who wasn’t there manage to win a debate? The GOP contenders helped answer the question last night in dramatic fashion.”