The recap/highlights per CNN:
Trump
Like the wall he's pledged to build along the U.S.-Mexico border, Donald Trump was immovable.
Trump
proved yet again that he's not going to back down from his bombastic
rhetoric. The Republican frontrunner kicked off the debate by refusing
-- again -- to rule out a third-party run and pledge his support to the
Republican nominee, regardless of who takes the crown.
Instead, Trump said: "I can totally make the pledge if I'm the nominee."
The
moderators didn't mince words with Trump: Asking him about calling some
undocumented immigrants "rapists" and slamming women he's previously
sparred with as "fat pigs" and "slobs."
"Only Rosie O'Donnell," Trump interjected, before saying he doesn't "frankly have time for total political correctness."
But
the result didn't give voters much in the way of specifics on Trump's
policies, and he refused to do so when pressed on immigration by
moderator Chris Wallace -- instead saying "our leaders are stupid."
Chris Christie and Rand Paul Duked it Out
While Trump didn't go full-Donald to beat back the Kentucky senator's attacks, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took advantage when given the opportunity to address his beef with Paul over national security.
Months after Rand Paul's 10-and-a-half
hour filibuster to block the NSA's reauthorization -- which prompted
attacks from Christie -- the pair showed Thursday that they will
continue to grapple on the issue.
As
the two squabbled, Christie slammed Paul for simply "blowing hot air"
from the comfort of a Senate subcommittee. Paul fired back at Christie
over his hugging of Obama right before the 2012 election. But Christie
had the last word.
"Senator Paul, you
know the hugs I remember are the hugs that I gave to the families who
lost their people on September 11th," Christie said.
It's
a sign that Christie will continue to be Paul's foil on the campaign
trail as the libertarian-leaning senator's unorthodox national security
and foreign policy positions continue to clash with the GOP mold.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich Did Well on Getting His Name Out There
For a guy who barely squeaked his way onto
the debate stage, John Kasich's main goal was to get his name out --
and his home state helped him meet and exceed his goal.
Playing
off a home-court advantage, Kasich deftly handled questions on the
attacks Democrats would lob at him and took a pass on attacking Trump.
And he did so with authenticity and while pivoting to his credentials as
a budget hawk and his foreign policy resume.
Kasich insisted that Trump is "hitting a nerve in this country."
"People are frustrated, they're fed up," Kasich said. "For people to just tune them out is a mistake."
Jeb Bush Didn't Really "Wow" Anybody
Bush started off his week stumbling in New
Hampshire, pushed toward the debate with a major gaffe on women's
health care and teed off the debate Thursday stumbling through his
answers yet again.
Bush -- who has been
out of the political glare for nearly a decade -- appeared out of
practice when fielding the first questions in the debate Thursday.
But
he got stronger as the night went on, and began hitting his stride
after he was asked about his pledge to bring 4% economic growth to the
country and as he defended his work for a Michael Bloomberg nonprofit
that gave money to Planned Parenthood.
However,
Bush certainly didn't prove himself as the unequivocal frontrunner that
many in the Republican establishment once believed him to be, as other
candidates like Kasich and Rubio proved their top-tier status as well.
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The winners from last night are Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Mike Huckabee and Chris Christie because they really capitalized on the opportunity to use the debate to help raise their profiles. By contrast, the losers were Donald Trump, Scott Walker, Ben Carson, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and especially Jeb Bush because they failed to do the same.
What do you think about last night's debate?
