Grading The Republican Primary Debate.

[jojoju1998]

How the heck was it ? Compared to the previous debate......

[Penelope]

Better than CNBC, worse than CNN.

[Lyin' Steve]

Fox > Fox Business > CNN > CNBC

Fox's original debate was the most entertaining thing I'd ever seen.
CNN was long and petty and boring.
CNBC was obviously dreadful.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

CNN > Fox Business > Fox > CNBC

[Maxwell]

I won't do grades, instead I'll awards

The Winner Award goes to Donald Trump. He sounded more and more comfortable on the stage, jabbing his opponents, making his own points, even beating John Kasich ON FACTUAL HISTORY, and sounding the most coherent on foreign policy. Trump is in it to win it, and I believe he won the debate tonight.

The Runner-Up Award goes to Ted Cruz, who continues to deliver strong performances for actual GOP voters. He's a very strong orator, very calculating, and I believe his performance tonight showed that Cruz's rise isn't stopping any time soon.

The Most Improved Award goes to Rand Paul. The last debate he utterly failed. Tonight, he came out strong, strong against Rubio and more surprisingly strong against Trump. He may pick back up some of his lost support after all.

The Marco Rubio award goes to Marco Rubio. He delivered a Rubio-esqe performance, speaking very well and content-free on a variety of issues. He probably won the Atlas Concensus, and I don't necessarily disagree, as I think he continues his reign as the establishment candidate. I was just bored by it.

The Casper the Ghost award goes to Dr. Ben Carson. He managed to be the GOP FRONTRUNNER and not asked any questions on anything and hide in plain sight. There were long periods of time I thought he was just not there. Nevertheless this probably helps his campaign, as increased exposure seems to drive him to madness.

The Least Improved Award goes to Carly Fiorina, whose performance in these debates just keeps falling. She got called out, finally, for her known debate trait by the Great Donald Trump, and since then she just seemed to attempt to grab the same magic that got her on that main stage in the first place and she just can't grasp it. She will meet Chris Christie at the kiddie debate soon enough.

The Awkward Neck Tie Award goes to Jeb Bush. The thing I noticed most about Jeb Bush was his awkwardness, his readiness to hit a homerun and then either get a strike or attempt to run to first before easily being called out. He improved slightly from the last debate, only because he was never completely eviscerated by one or the other candidate, but his tendency to disappoint everyone continues. I hear the media is calling this debate for him - This is great... For Donald Trump. Jeb's debate problem is not going away.

The Most Undeserved Time award goes to John Kasich. The Moderators asked the 3rd Tier nearly 4th Tier candidate as many questions as they reasonably could, and he butchered nearly every chance he got. He speaks in awkward run on sentences, similar to how he looks. This was a truly terrible night for him and I wouldn't be surprised if he drops out sooner rather than later.

[Illiniwek]

I won't do grades, instead I'll awards

The Winner Award goes to Donald Trump. He sounded more and more comfortable on the stage, jabbing his opponents, making his own points, even beating John Kasich ON FACTUAL HISTORY, and sounding the most coherent on foreign policy. Trump is in it to win it, and I believe he won the debate tonight.

The Runner-Up Award goes to Ted Cruz, who continues to deliver strong performances for actual GOP voters. He's a very strong orator, very calculating, and I believe his performance tonight showed that Cruz's rise isn't stopping any time soon.

The Most Improved Award goes to Rand Paul. The last debate he utterly failed. Tonight, he came out strong, strong against Rubio and more surprisingly strong against Trump. He may pick back up some of his lost support after all.

The Marco Rubio award goes to Marco Rubio. He delivered a Rubio-esqe performance, speaking very well and content-free on a variety of issues. He probably won the Atlas Concensus, and I don't necessarily disagree, as I think he continues his reign as the establishment candidate. I was just bored by it.

The Casper the Ghost award goes to Dr. Ben Carson. He managed to be the GOP FRONTRUNNER and not asked any questions on anything and hide in plain sight. There were long periods of time I thought he was just not there. Nevertheless this probably helps his campaign, as increased exposure seems to drive him to madness.

The Least Improved Award goes to Carly Fiorina, whose performance in these debates just keeps falling. She got called out, finally, for her known debate trait by the Great Donald Trump, and since then she just seemed to attempt to grab the same magic that got her on that main stage in the first place and she just can't grasp it. She will meet Chris Christie at the kiddie debate soon enough.

The Awkward Neck Tie Award goes to Jeb Bush. The thing I noticed most about Jeb Bush was his awkwardness, his readiness to hit a homerun and then either get a strike or attempt to run to first before easily being called out. He improved slightly from the last debate, only because he was never completely eviscerated by one or the other candidate, but his tendency to disappoint everyone continues. I hear the media is calling this debate for him - This is great... For Donald Trump. Jeb's debate problem is not going away.

The Most Undeserved Time award goes to John Kasich. The Moderators asked the 3rd Tier nearly 4th Tier candidate as many questions as they reasonably could, and he butchered nearly every chance he got. He speaks in awkward run on sentences, similar to how he looks. This was a truly terrible night for him and I wouldn't be surprised if he drops out sooner rather than later.

Pretty accurate.

CNN > Fox Business > Fox > CNBC

I enjoyed the more substantive debate, and applaud the moderators for keeping things on topic. However, I think that the moderators should have done a much better job enforcing the time limit (Fiorina...), preventing people from butting in every other answer (Kasich...), and calling out debaters when they are spewing bull**** lying answers (thank you Rand Paul). Moderators shouldn't overshadow candidates, but they should keep things fair and push candidates when they say something blatantly false.

[Asian Nazi]

Honestly haven't even been able to watch the last couple debates.  Way too boring.  These debates are the best when the candidates get to attack each other and engage in zingers.  Nobody wants to watch Rand Paul moan on about the Federal Reserve and quantitative easing. 

Entertainment >>>>> boring policy wonkishness, both in terms of quality and ratings.  CNN seems like the only network that understand this.

[perdedor]

I nodded off in the middle of the closing statements...but overall, it was as substantive as a debate can be. I much prefer the forum format.