Last night’s Republican debate … a few comments

Tweet

Well, the debate last night was definitely interesting, starting off rather bizarrely with befuddled Ben Carson huddling in the hallway. He looked either afraid to go on stage or was refusing to go on stage for some unknown reason. Trump appeared and seemed to be helping Ben find his way, while we the viewers were wondering what the heck was going on. I heard commentary later that some of the candidates couldn’t hear their names being called due to enthusiastic audience clapping. My opinions on the debate – I think Johnny-One-Note Rubio came out the loser, made more noticeable as prognosticators were thinking he might surge into the lead, or close to it. Christie went at him relentlessly, claiming he was unprepared and scripted, prompting Rubio (thrown off his game?) to repeat at least 3 or 4 times the same response, proving Christie right and reminding me of how an old vinyl record sounded when it got stuck and kept returning to the same spot. Cruz' apology to Ben Carson regarding the "stolen" Iowa votes fell flat and was a bit hard to believe. Carson didn’t do well either but his good manners and peaceful disposition and beautiful surgeon's hands kept him from getting crucified by the moderators and the other candidates. The real winners appeared to be the losers – Kasich, Bush and Christie. They have really worked the New Hampshire scene and are finally gaining some recognition and credibility for their efforts and experience. I think Trump, although receiving some boos, will stay at the top of the Republican pack for now, especially since he wrote off the boos he received to the composition of the audience – they were mostly biased donors who obviously weren’t routing for Trump, who doesn’t do the donor thing. Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary will be a big day and will likely make some and break some of the candidates who are running. Will Trump and Bernie remain on top? Will Rubio script-talk another surge? Will Hillary close the gap? Will the losers continue to rise and chip away at the winners?