Posted on 08/07/2015 12:28:32 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CLEVELAND -- About an hour into the primetime debate of the top 10 candidates in the Republican presidential race, the conservative actor Nick Searcy tweeted, "I'm afraid @CarlyFiorina is winning the second debate too."
He was on to something. Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, shone earlier in the evening, when seven GOP candidates who didn't make the cut for the primetime session gathered for the night's first faceoff. For about an hour after that debate, the big story was Fiorina winning what was sometimes called the undercard session.
That news was not going to last long, because then came a primetime debate that was hugely entertaining but at times seemed in danger of veering off the rails with loopy and sometimes embarrassing answers from Donald Trump. A few of the candidates, like John Kasich, did well, but only Marco Rubio turned in a truly standout performance.
It was hard to declare a clear winner of the primetime debate. Combine the two sessions into one, however, and Fiorina emerged as the likely winner of the entire evening.
Fiorina has impressed crowds in Iowa, New Hampshire, and other key states. Wherever she speaks, audience members who've never seen her before express almost uniformly positive reactions. Those friendly receptions, however, have not translated into rising national poll numbers; hence Fiorina's appearance at the early, rather than the primetime, debate.
When the debate structure was first announced, Fiorina confidently predicted she would qualify for the primetime session. It didn't work out that way. So she made the best of the opportunity she had. She gave a biting commentary on Donald Trump. (She did it when asked, not volunteering.) A solid answer on cyber-security. A good, if oft-repeated, answer on Iran. A compelling explanation of her own conservatism. And in her final statement, a concise statement of her main focus, which is her pledge to fight Hillary Clinton every day of every week of every month in the coming campaign:
Hillary Clinton lies about Benghazi, she lies about e-mails. She is still defending Planned Parenthood, and she is still her party's frontrunner. 2016 is going to be a fight between conservatism, and a Democrat party that is undermining the very character of this nation. We need a nominee who is going to throw every punch, not pull punches, and someone who cannot stumble before he even gets into the ring.
While the target was Hillary, few in the room missed that Fiorina's "stumble before he even gets into the ring" line was directed at Jeb Bush and his recent rhetorical missteps.
But that was fairly subtle. In general, Republican voters like their candidates to focus on defeating Clinton -- as opposed to, say, bickering with each other. Fiorina taps into that vein more effectively than anyone else. The core of her message is that of the 17 Republicans running for president, only she is tough enough to wage the daily battles it will take to defeat Clinton. Some observers have taken that to mean that Fiorina is saying that, as the only woman in the GOP field, she could take it to Clinton as only another woman could. That's not what Fiorina means. She means that she is the only one tough enough to defeat the Democratic nominee for president, whoever that nominee is, woman or man. The flipside of that argument is that all her fellow candidates don't have the stuff to fight 24/7.
She might be right.
When Fiorina spoke to reporters after the debate, I asked if it was her view that her Republican opponents are in danger of going too easy on Clinton. Fiorina didn't really say no.
"I am suggesting that this really is a fight in 2016," she said. "It is a fight about the character of our nation. I believe that. It is a fight between conservatism and progressivism, and yes, I think we need nominee who will throw every punch. I would just observe what others have observed, many in the media have observed -- I am the person who most consistently goes after Hillary Clinton. And I think it's going to take that to beat Hillary Clinton, or whomever the Democrats put up, but I think it's going to be Hillary Clinton."
Later, someone else asked the question a little differently. Can't Jeb Bush take the fight to Hillary Clinton? "Well, so far not," Fiorina answered. "And he's not the only one who hasn't particularly thrown punches effectively at Hillary Clinton. I think I have."
Fiorina still faces a lot of questions about being an unknown. Why isn't she better known by now? Why aren't her poll numbers higher? Her answer is that she is making progress and intends to keep pushing. "Everybody here can admit it," she told reporters. "When I announced my candidacy May 4, you didn't think we would have come this far. So I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing."
Before the debate, a number of observers speculated that Fiorina might use the earlier session to make best use of her skills, in an atmosphere without all the Donald Trump drama that would come with the later debate. That's exactly what she did. And of the seven candidates onstage in that early debate, only Fiorina had a genuine chance of breaking out, of making the leap from the second-tier debate into the first. As it turned out, that's exactly what happened -- if Fiorina can raise those stubborn poll numbers in the next few weeks.
Whose butt is bigger?
: )
Oops
I thought right from the very first gotcha question that they gnue the answer too, that Fox did a really poor job on their upper tier debate. The death blow was the clip of Carly played during the prime time debate. Those Fox folks should have been taken out and whipped. And the interruptions, Kelly lost any respect I had for her style. It was one gotcha question after another and the pitting of one candidate against another. Total crap IMHO and the candidates managed to survive it. Someone with guts and money needs to supplant media and get on with DEBATE.
Oh yeah, let’s all be politically correct now and push the one woman candidate that’s a Pub. Just like pushing Ben Carson, the one Black. Both are nice people, but neither could win in the primaries, no matter how much you want to push the liberal media’s meme for them. Must have a woman, must have a black. I want a nice, white patriot nationalist (a rare species in today’s PC world) thank you, and one who can fight. In my book that is first and foremost Donald Trump, and then Cruz. Preferably Trump/Cruz 2016.
“she is a RINO - who is now a conservative. Sure, she says all the right things, but, I don’t trust her. “
The same misgivings I have about Trump. He’s flip-flopped more on issues than anyone.
I haven't checked the details of that particular piece of legislation, but in general, the "barn door" opening is health of the mother, not life of the mother.
Reagan's Darkest Hour | National Review Online | Paul Kengor & Patricia Clark Doerner January 22, 2008
That seems to bear out the contention. The abused language was "mental health."
Not to say that "life of the mother" would be respected in practice, but it is a higher bar than "health of the mother."
Hmmmm... Did you watch? It’s a debate...
Carly beat the snot out of the first group... Ben Carson looked lost and awful until the last 2 questions and redeemed himself...
I would have to say Trump looked more like a “politician” than some of the politicians...
Cruz & Huckabee were the CLEAR “winners” in the debate. Rubio helped himself...
I’m hoping Cruz is the tortoise and Trump is the hare that burns out.
Rubio sounds like a Democrat. He operates on pure emotionalism. A lot of Obama-esque “hope and change” type rhetoric. It seems to work well on women, but definitely not with me. Taking us into the new century or whatever, which was just code for, “Vote for me, I’m latino.”
Cruz shows how much substance he has by always getting into the nitty-gritty of the issues and not giving this airy, empty, superficial rhetoric or putting out dog whistles for latinos.
Great summary.
“Cruz & Huckabee were the CLEAR “winners” in the debate. Rubio helped himself...”
You seem so sure of yourself. Check out today’s and the coming days’ polls, and then get back to me about who won, lol. Go Trump!
Her question about how many others got calls from Clinton turned me off quite a bit - seemed beneath her w/o any facts and designed to let imaginations override all else.
You do realize that the answer as to who “won” the debate are simply opinions... I didn’t go into the debate with any candidate in mind as a front-runner... And if anyone did, they will look at the debate through those rose-colored glasses...
If you really think Trump did well, you weren’t watching. The “polls” may not reflect this right away. I’m sure since you are a Trump supporter once he goes 3rd party that you’ll follow him off that cliff...
FOX News - the new MSNBC/CNN...
Politics is a contact sport...
The “gotcha” questions is part of the game when you invite the media. A debate where the media COVERS the “show” is the way to go & have a “Mark Levin type” moderator ask RANDOM, pre-prepared questions...
There are many other, BETTER ways to run a debate.
This makes you wonder about the GOP(e)...
Agree. Notice the two people who gained the most recognition Dr Ben and Carly are both non politicians. Trump;Cruz;Carson. Know too much about Carly’s liberal stance in just one nights reading. She is a smooth package but...
Sad but true!
Too bad we don’t have a FreeRepublic news agency that would stand for truth in media. Oh wait a minute, we do. The contrast is so stark we realize the difference.
On the other hand Trump disappointed by not expanding his message and his lack of being able to dodge head shots that were easy to deflect.
Rand Paul is a one issue freak show. He is hiding his real core beliefs, just like his daddy.
At times Jeb was articulate and passionate, at others he seemed like a deer in headlights. He really worries me because he has been isolated and insulated in his legacy rich boy bubble his entire life. He has never learned to scrap, fight and overcome.
He has been molded into a squishy non threatening apologetic white male so as to not offend. You could tell he was in unfamiliar territory needing to affirm himself, when his world has always been one of easy access and acceptance.
He does not possess the grit necessary to confront the evil that will flow down upon the nominee.
Two more things, I was drawn to the realization that the majority of the candidates have a fundamental Christian Faith. Their compassion, humanity and honesty shown through as the light of Jesus Christ.
Finally...please candidates, locate the camera and speak into it. Direct your gaze and your words to the American people who are watching. Take the question, then look into the camera and communicate to US. You are not obligated to answer the newsreader sock puppet. Field their inane question then discard them and converse with your real audience.
right on all counts.
Analysis!
Love it.
We need more discussion like that.
What was the clip specifically of Carly during the prime time debate you make mention of?
She was well paid to sandbag Trump behind his back. She got a slug of $$$$ from Univision.
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