Who won the main Fox Business debate?

[I support Sanders]

I would say Rand Paul. He barely made the cut to even be in the debate, and he actually contributed meaningful substance to tonight's debate. He came off as arrogant, smug, negative, and kind of a jerk in the last three debates, but tonight he shined, and I think he has the most to gain. I am predicting that he will eclipse Bush and Fiorina in the polls soon (move from 8/8 to 6/8).

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

CNN Focus group from South Carolina said Carson won....LOL and only one person changed their mind FROM DONALD TRUMP TO CARLY FIORINA.....

Majority of the focus group thought Jeb did better, but no one is close to changing their minds for him.

[Penelope]

Paul, he seemed the most sensible and competent, so naturally the GOP base will say that Carson or Fiorina won and Paul will be demoted to the kiddie table.

CNN Focus group from South Carolina said Carson won....LOL and only one person changed their mind FROM DONALD TRUMP TO CARLY FIORINA.....

Majority of the focus group thought Jeb did better, but no one is close to changing their minds for him.

Yep, we're right on track.

[I support Sanders]

Bush and Paul improved the most.

This is what I was thinking. Paul had the most to gain, as he barely made it into this debate, and I think he pulled off a great performance. Bush was Bush, but didn't too terribly; I don't, however, think that he did well enough to revive his campaign. I thought this was Trump's weakest performance. There were long periods of time when Trump didn't even say a word and where he wasn't called upon (particularly in the first half of the debate); he gave a weak opening statement; and Paul made him look like an idiot when he criticized the TPP by diverting to China. When I watched the debate, I was thinking this would be the downfall of Trump, until I got on here and see that a good number of people actually think he won.

[Eraserhead]

I'd have to give Paul oddly enough. I'm as surprised as anyone.

[eric82oslo]

I'd have to give Paul oddly enough. I'm as surprised as anyone.

If Paul won, which I honestly highly doubt (to put it extremely mildly lol), it was only because Trump decided to side with Paul in the intense Paul-Fiorina fight lol. You all guys are such Trumptards that you don't even realize what an inmense impact he has on your opinions. I just find it funny and terrifically amusing at this point. Trump is basically dominating 80% of your political views. And that seems to go for both Republicans and Democrats, and even more so perhaps for independents.

[RFayette]

I had Bible study tonight so I only watched the first half of it thus far, but from what I've seen, Paul, Cruz, and Trump all had good nights.

[eric82oslo]

I had Bible study tonight so I only watched the first half of it thus far, but from what I've seen, Paul, Cruz, and Trump all had good nights.

That might very well be, but I only watched the second half, and there Paul totally sucked, while Trump was only on screen twice, and then only briefly. Cruz still had a great second half though, single best one along with Rubio.

[Landslide Lyndon]

CNN Focus group from South Carolina said Carson won....LOL and only one person changed their mind FROM DONALD TRUMP TO CARLY FIORINA.....

Majority of the focus group thought Jeb did better, but no one is close to changing their minds for him.

I read on Twitter that Luntz claimed that many people in his group switched to Rubio.
Not that it would be the first time this joker was shilling for the establishment.

[Famous Mortimer]

Trump: Not particularly great. Not particularly bad. Got slammed on China not being part of TPP but seemed to recover.

Carson: Not particularly great. Not particularly bad.

Rubio: Not particularly great. Not particularly bad.

Cruz: Very strong. I thought it was funny though, he said he wanted to abolish 5 departments and forgot one, saying Commerce twice. Why would you do that after Rick Perry? No one seems to care though, which is weird. Perry messes up, says "sorry, I forgot, I am only human" gets laughed off the stage. Cruz makes the exact same mistake, doesn't acknowledge it, no one cares.

Fionrina: Eh.

Bush: Eh.

Paul: Eh.

Kasich: Started out great but overplayed his hand. Kept interrupting even though he didn't really have anything to say. Kept spouting platitudes about moderation as if they were unique jems of wisdom no one had ever heard before.

I think the winners were Trump (who did about as well as he always does and that's always considered a win for him), Carson (who succeeded by not coming across as a complete idiot), Rubio (who didn't mess up his establishment front runner position), and Cruz (who made some good points and secured his status as the non-novelty Tea Party candidate). These were already basically the only 4 people who have a shot at the nomination though.

[Cruzcrew]

On who won the debate, it would seem to be a coin flip between Rubio and Cruz but Rand Paul put in a much stronger performance. He should at least get above 3%. Trump held his ground and bush had his least bad performance but it didn't stand out. But knowing the GOP base, Carson probably somehow "won" the debate like last time.

[eric82oslo]

Cruz: Very strong. I thought it was funny though, he said he wanted to abolish 5 departments and forgot one, saying Commerce twice. Why would you do that after Rick Perry? No one seems to care though, which is weird. Perry messes up, says "sorry, I forgot, I am only human" gets laughed off the stage. Cruz makes the exact same mistake, doesn't acknowledge it, no one cares.

Commerce was the department, you're right. I was literally cringing in my chair as I watched him deliever those lines, but apparently we're the only two, as noone else seemed to even notice. Maybe they all were too busy delievering their next lines, moderators included?

[BlueSwan]

Cruz: Very strong. I thought it was funny though, he said he wanted to abolish 5 departments and forgot one, saying Commerce twice. Why would you do that after Rick Perry? No one seems to care though, which is weird. Perry messes up, says "sorry, I forgot, I am only human" gets laughed off the stage. Cruz makes the exact same mistake, doesn't acknowledge it, no one cares.

Commerce was the department, you're right. I was literally cringing in my chair as I watched him deliever those lines, but apparently we're the only two, as noone else seemed to even notice. Maybe they all were too busy delievering their next lines, moderators included?

I sure as hell noticed.

But this is an example of how an attack really hurts when the attack REINFORCES something that people already suspect about a candidate.

People were already suspecting that Rick Perry was a bit of a dumbass with no grasp of political substance and THAT CLIP reinforced that belief.

Cruz is suspected of being a an extremist or even a jerk, but NOT of being stupid or having no idea what he is talking about. Hence his gaffe is assumed to be just a bit of random mumbling, which is probably was. Just like when Rubio accidentally said that the most important job for every american was to be president, when he obviously meant "parent".

Same reason why Jeb was hurt so badly by Trump consistently caling him "low-energy" - it simply rings true.

Attacks doesn't necessarily have to BE true to work, but they have to appeal to an idea that is already there. The Swift Boat ads destroyed John Kerry in 2004, despite them not being true, because enough people were suspecting this anti Vietnam guy of possibly not being a "real" war hero.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Cruz: Very strong. I thought it was funny though, he said he wanted to abolish 5 departments and forgot one, saying Commerce twice. Why would you do that after Rick Perry? No one seems to care though, which is weird. Perry messes up, says "sorry, I forgot, I am only human" gets laughed off the stage. Cruz makes the exact same mistake, doesn't acknowledge it, no one cares.

Commerce was the department, you're right. I was literally cringing in my chair as I watched him deliever those lines, but apparently we're the only two, as noone else seemed to even notice. Maybe they all were too busy delievering their next lines, moderators included?

Nope, I noticed. I was cringing along with you.

[Kingpoleon]

A+: Rubio
A-: Trump

B+: Kasich

C+: Paul
C: Cruz
C: Fiorina

D+: Carson
D-: Bush

[BlueSwan]

Crazy that Trump got away with that China/TPP nonsense... Rand Paul should have gone after him harder instead of just politely pointing out that China is not part of TPP.

[Nyvin]

Really I think Trump did the best.

[bobloblaw]

CNN is saying Bush won the debate LOL.

1. they want him to win
2. they actually think calling deportations unAmerican is a winning position

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Cruz    A-   Solid performance
Paul     B+   Shows improvement
Bush    B-   Shows improvement

Rubio    C   Average performance
Trump   C   Average
Carson   C-   Below previous effots, incoherent

Fiorina   D   Worse than previous efforts
Kasich   D   Poor presentation and form, below expectations

[hopper]

Paul won the debate in my opinion. Where was he the first few debates though? His answer or rebuttal to the "No-Fly Zone" was pretty good.

It was funny to see Cruz in the "Middle" of an issue ideologically  on the issue of defense spending with Rubio and Paul.

I thought Jeb's "tone" was a lot better in this debate than the prior debates. Must have been coached some in between last debate and the most recent debate.

Rubio just sounded "smooth" as somebody said on this thread but he wasn't substantive.

Kasich had a bad night and looked like Rand Paul in the 1st debate he didn't put himself "in the fight or "conversation" in the debate and his answer to bank bailouts at the end of the debate fell on its face with Frank Luntz's focus group.

[VPH]

Marco Rubio: Mr. GOP 2016 did it again. Stellar performance that shows how he can bridge the party's many factions. Sounded like a president too.

Rand Paul: His ceiling is and always has been limited, but I think Paul finally did what he needed to do to keep the campaign alive for a bit longer. He staked out a distinct position, won a few battles, and stood out overall in a good way.

Jeb Bush: I know it sounds strange, and Americans won't agree, but Bush finally had some energy to him.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Wulfric is a better analyst than half of this site. Let that sink in.

Well, half this site are 15-18 year old Libertarians and pinko-Cons, so that shouldn't be surprising.

Pinko-Cons?

Is that like Red Tories?

[ElectionsGuy]

Cruz and Rubio are about tied to me, but I thought Cruz's answer on the banks hit it out of the park, so him.