January 14, 2016 GOP Presidential Debate

Watched the GOP debate on FBN in its' entirety Thursday night.  Was never bored. Not even for a minute.  The hosts were professional and kept it moving. Yet were fair in letting candidates respond to one another over heated issues. Very well done.

For the first debate, held at 6pm,  I felt all three candidates did very well. But no particular candidate stood out overall.

However, the more I think about and listen to Carly Fiorina, the more convinced I am that she would be great at heading up Cyber Security and Technology for the U.S. government in one form of another.  It could be a cabinet position or working as a liaison between the White House, FBI, the CIA, the military and/or the Pentagon in regards to breaches and/or tracking terrorists. With her technology back round and leadership skills, she would be a huge asset in this day and age.

Moving on to the main event at 9.

What a debate! Was there a clear, single winner? I don't think so.

During the first part of the debate I thought Cruz was fabulous. His opening remarks, delivery, etc. were spot on and powerful. His response on the birther issue was a true winner and left The Donald somewhat impotent. Overall, Cruz seemed to have the crowd with him and was laser sharp on all accounts. I thought this is it. Ted's going to out perform everyone else and be declared the winner.

But then his statements in regards to 'New York values' put him on the defense and The Donald responded in a way that left Ted silent. Since I hadn't known about the statements,  I had no idea what exactly was said and wasn't sure what to think. So I looked it up and here's exactly what Mr. Cruz said:

“Donald comes from New York and he embodies New York values.”

“Everybody understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal and pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage,” he said. “And focus on money and the media.”

Wow. That was a real blunder on Cruz's part. Not that I disagree with him as I think he was talking specifically about NYC and its very liberal politics. But that was a huge miscalculation on his part. Not very smart to trash any particular geographical area if you are running for a national office. But rumor has it that these remarks were meant to capture the Iowa vote.

In any case, the Donald's response about 9/11 and pointing out how honorable and loving, etc. the people of NYC were in handling it all, was brilliant. The Donald actually came off as compassionate and kind. And this left Ted quiet and dumbfounded.

Moving on to how the other candidates did.

I thought Rubio and Christie performed quite well. Both were articulate, energetic and passionate.  Bush, Kasich and Carson were fine, though very milquetoast in their performances, thus I don't feel any of them stood out in particular.

Bottom line?

I think Trump may now have a bit of an edge over Cruz due to Ted's NY values comments. Thus Ted's rising poll numbers may come to a standstill or drop a bit depending on how many actually watched the debate. Or are paying attention to subsequent coverage of them. That being said, I don't think Cruz's true supporters will think any differently about him.  As for Mr. Trump, his numbers will probably rise a bit.

In regards to the rest of the candidates. I think Rubio and Christie will continue to do well and may even gain additional supporters if Trump or Cruz  falter in some way.

As for all of the rest, I don't see any real rise in their numbers nor do I see them dropping out till AFTER Iowa and/or NH or maybe even S.C. Then we might finally see the field narrow down to 3 or 4 candidates. But not till then.

One last thought. It's occurred to me that the Dems have barely uttered a negative word about The Donald since he first announced he was running.  Could it be they want him to be the nominee as they think they can beat him? Food for thought...