It is arguable in terms of who won the debate. You could make the case for Chris Christie or Donald Trump. Both of them had the best debate by far since those candidates had multiple standout moments.
I still cannot believe that nobody was talking about how poorly Ted Cruz did in this debate. After he got smacked around by Trump and Carson in the beginning, he never had a memorable moment after that. Why is nobody talking about the Iowa winner doing a poor performance in the debate last night?
As you pointed out, Marco Rubio got blasted by Chris Christie and had his poorest debate yet, which is usually his bread and butter. The big question mark that I have is whether or not Chris Christie will gain support for chopping down Marco. People typically don't want to vote for the bully, which is why I think those votes will go to John Kasich who had a fantastic debate as well.
Both John Kasich and Jeb Bush are exceptional governors; however Jeb Bush has a problem effectively communicating with the voters. It almost sounds like he is emotionless when he speaks so voters don't pick up on his great accomplishments. This is in stark contrast to John Kasich and his effective interpersonal skills. Jeb Bush still doesn't get it in my opinion. When he is interviewed, he boasts that he is the only candidate that attacks Trump. Uh huh...and how is that working out for you Jeb Bush? Do you like your 2.8% support in Iowa? If so, continue being the only candidate to attack Trump.
Ben Carson has the best health care plan, which has been an idea of mine for a couple of years. So I am glad someone else directly aligns with my views. Unfortunately for Ben Carson, the moderators in large part forgot about him.
With Trump and Chris Christie leading the debate, I felt that Trump won because I don't think that Christie will gain enough support to climb to either second or third place in New Hampshire. On top of that, Trump won the voters when he pointed out that the crowd was full of donors and special interest groups who would clap if Jeb Bush would sneeze. Why aren't the American people at the debate?
Trump also had a standout moment when asked about having his finger on the nuclear button. His last talking point was that he was the only one on stage that didn't want to go to war in Iraq yet HE is the one with the finger on the nuclear button? Got it. I would also like to point out that they did the same exact thing with Ronald Reagan having an "itchy trigger finger", so it is hardly surprising that they tried to do the same to Trump.
