There's tomorrow's headline, right off: Trump's refusal to pledge against a 3rd-party run. Can't top that.
… huh, was Christie's one-liner, "You think [NJ is] bad now, you should have seen it when I got there," rehearsed?
… Paul didn't even attempt to explain how he, a non-interventionist, can belong to a militaristic party.
… Bush — virtual dead silence from audience on his immigration views. Not good. Neither was "compassion" a good argument for Kasich.
… one-quarter through — the audience can boo Trump, but the homefolks are lovin' him, I'd wager.
… Walker, one word: flat. Cruz: This is a recording. Rubio is even more of a lightweight than I expected. The Paul-Christie brawl was fun, but what we really need is… halfway through now … More Trump!
… Webster's new definition of irony: Ben Carson saying that Hillary Clinton counts on uninformed voters.
… I love these GOP governors talking about how wretched their state economies were when they entered office — a wretchedness caused by whom?
… I'd say Kasich is winning on points — but whose points?
… I'm still pondering Trump's opening pledge. Gutsy. I expected him to beg off, but he obviously has confidence that his base, the base, is so disgusted with GOP "stiffs" that a threatened defection won't hurt him.
… three-quarters through, and Jeb doesn't seem very joyful.
… we are now agreed that the United States is defenseless.
… blessed closing statements, with God speaking through them, of course.
Trump and Kasich — the only candidates who spoke on a human level. The rest were automated (not counting Paul-Christie's fistacuffs), which was somewhat surprising, given Trump's recent tutoring on how GOP politics works — vile bile and no guile.
Walker says you could have friends all over the Persian Gulfs. All eight of them I guess.
Posted by: Peter G | August 06, 2015 at 08:48 PM
Least idiotic by far, Rubio.
Posted by: Peter G | August 06, 2015 at 08:55 PM
Holy shit, Carson just figured out the whole point of the war in Iraq, to make everything else unaffordable.
Posted by: Peter G | August 06, 2015 at 09:03 PM
"What am I saying???" --Trump. My favorite line of the night.
Posted by: Jason | August 06, 2015 at 09:23 PM
That's an interesting speculation on Trump's thinking he can win over the GOP base by splitting from the GOP, PM... but really, are the Repubs so gullible as to forget what Nader did for the Dems in 2000?
Posted by: Gary on the Left Coast | August 06, 2015 at 09:31 PM
Some honesty from Huckabee! "The military is to kill people and break things." The mission in Iraq has been one loooong success!
Posted by: Gary on the Left Coast | August 06, 2015 at 09:44 PM
I bet at least 537 are!
Posted by: KennyR | August 06, 2015 at 09:45 PM
All in all, not as kooky as I expected. Cruz was predictably entertaining. Trump was true to form, but didn't strike me as provocative for the sake of distinguishing himself.
My first lengthy exposure to Jeb and he's really quite underwhelming, no sharper than his brother, alas. Kasich was fairly sensible, making him a sure-fire early exit from this primary circus.
My take? Rubio handled himself most impressively, at least from this Dem's perspective. All in all good to see no one on the stage looking at all presidential. Alas, not a characteristic the R base seems to care about or understand.
Best one-liner? Carson and the half-a-brain remark... :-)
Posted by: Gary on the Left Coast | August 06, 2015 at 10:14 PM
That's a direct quote from Rush Limbaugh's repertoire; good to know who gets used as an authoritative source for material.
Posted by: Dale White | August 06, 2015 at 11:01 PM
For what it's worth - not much in this partisan space - but The Daily Telegraph, a serious but conservative paper 'over here' gave the following marks:
Rubio: 8/10
Christie, Kasich, Walker: 7/10
Bush, Cruz: 5/10
Trump: 4/10
Posted by: David & Son of Duff | August 07, 2015 at 02:33 AM
I liked Trump because when the time bell rang, he shut up.
Posted by: ren | August 07, 2015 at 07:51 AM
True but just an unintended consequence I believe. He was expecting to be fed.
Posted by: Peter G | August 07, 2015 at 08:28 AM
I like to keep this reference handy when placing British papers in their proper place on the spectrum of public opinion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdCORukSpiQ
Posted by: Peter G | August 07, 2015 at 08:41 AM
Partisan space means we have political opinions on the Left that we defend here, sometimes even vigorously, at times, David. A healthy mind can deal with political opposition without treating it like their opponents are infected with some disgusting disease.
Sorry that seems to give you the cramps.
Posted by: The Dark Avenger | August 07, 2015 at 08:55 AM
PM, I just LOVE this; did you ever nail it. Great comments here, too.
Posted by: Max | August 07, 2015 at 09:13 AM
It's an interesting take, David. But the perceived results might have more to do with the nature of questions asked, which were much tougher on Trump, Bush, Walker, et. al. than they were on Rubio. Over at The Daily Beast, Michael Tomasky discussed it: See http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/07/the-gop-debate-by-the-numbers.html?source=TDB&via=FB_Page
Posted by: shsavage | August 07, 2015 at 03:01 PM
That explains the saliva...
Posted by: shsavage | August 07, 2015 at 03:02 PM