Winners, losers in final GOP debate before Super Tuesday

[Geee]

The Hill:

here were fireworks galore when the Republican presidential candidates took to the stage on Thursday night for their final clash before Super Tuesday.

 

Front-runner Donald Trump came to the CNN debate in Houston knowing that he would be in good shape for the dozen GOP contests on March 1 unless one of his most serious rivals — Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz — was able to fundamentally reshape the trajectory of the race.

Did Trump continue his progress toward the nomination, or did anyone knock him off-course?

 

WINNERS

Businessman Donald Trump

 

Trump’s performance on Thursday night would not have won him first place in a debating championship. But that hardly matters. The point of the exercise is to win elections — and, by that measure, the billionaire did all he needed to do.

This was a less volatile Trump than was seen at the GOP debate just before the Republican primary in South Carolina. Facing even fiercer attacks from Rubio and Cruz this time, he took some punches but was never put on the canvas, much less knocked out.

In fact, Trump got off some decent shots of his own, painting his verbal assailants as practitioners of politics-as-usual. Twice in the debate, he enunciated the central theme of his candidacy — that conventional politicians are “all talk, no action.”

When Rubio accused him of having hired people who were not legally entitled to work, the businessman insisted that he at least had a record of employing people and building a business.

There were also signs of Trump turning his gaze toward a general election audience. He held fast to his view that Planned Parenthood does good work in some areas of women’s health; he asserted that he had the capacity to expand the GOP’s appeal; and he made a vigorous attack on the greed of health insurance companies.

[Geee]

Was That Conservatism’s Last Stand?

 

They waited until the tenth debate, but the leading challengers to Donald Trump finally turned their attention to the frontrunner’s poor record and weaknesses. In past debates, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz attacked each other and often ignored Trump. But with Trump on the verge of locking up the Republican presidential nomination, the two at last realized that it was time to start talking about Trump’s record and to treat him with the same sort of unsparing disdain that the Donald has dished out but rarely received. The result was a no-holds-barred brawl broadcast on CNN in which Trump got the worst of a series of exchange with both of his major competitors. On ObamaCare, support for Israel, entitlements as well as his past record on a number of scandals including the fraudulent Trump University and building Trump Tower with illegal immigrants, Trump was hammered and exposed.

 

Did this happen too late to alter the outcome of the GOP race?

 

That’s entirely possible. But with only a few days before a possible Trump sweep of the Super Tuesday primaries, it was time for the Rubio and Cruz to step up their game. If Trump is to become the leader of the Republicans in the next few weeks and essentially transform it into something that doesn’t resemble the conservative party that Ronald Reagan once led to victory, then it was not going to happen without a fight.

 

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/politics-ideas/campaigns-elections/conservatisms-last-stand/

[Geee]

The GOP’s Thunderdome Debate

 

Welcome to Thunderdome.

 

For long stretches, this was one of the best debates of the cycle; certainly the toughest, at times the nastiest, and sometimes the funniest and most fiery. Both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz sense that time is running out and they needed to start landing punches. They probably succeeded with Trump University.

 

Of course, every time it got really good, CNN’s anchor Wolf Blitzer shifted to the human time-outs, John Kasich and Ben Carson. Neither man added much to the debate, other than Carson’s odd reference to fruit salad and Kasich’s strange suggestion that the president should be sorting out the encryption dispute between the FBI and Apple personally behind closed doors, and not having the dispute argued on the front pages of the newspapers.

 

Will it change anything? To judge from the results of the three most recent contests, Trump won all the recent debates. Most of his supporters seem unshakable. But after Trump’s big win in Nevada, and some gloomy poll numbers in recent days both Rubio and Cruz supporters needed to see some real fight in their guys tonight, and they got it. The problem for both is that both of them were good — Cruz with his trademark prosecutorial cross examination style, Rubio with humor and a relentless pace of Trump’s unsavory past — so neither man is going to feel much pressure to drop out.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/431958/gops-thunderdome-debate

[Geee]

Rubio, Cruz Train Fire on Trump in Houston

 

Houston — It had only happened once before in this GOP primary season, but Thursday night it happened repeatedly: Donald Trump was bested in a debate confrontation.

 

“Today, we saw a report in one of the newspapers that, Donald, you’ve hired a significant number of people from other countries to take jobs that Americans could have filled,” Marco Rubio, standing to Trump’s right, said just minutes into the debate, when the topic turned to immigration. “My mom and dad — my mom was a maid at a hotel, and instead of hiring an American like her, you have brought in over 1,000 people from all over the world to fill those jobs instead.”

 

Ted Cruz, standing on Trump’s other side, took his own shots at Trump shortly thereafter.

“In 2013, when I was fighting against the Gang of Eight amnesty bill, where was Donald? He was firing Dennis Rodman on Celebrity Apprentice,” Cruz said.

Further questioning Trump’s commitment to the immigration issue, which the real-estate mogul claimed “wouldn’t even be a big subject” in the race if he hadn’t made it a centerpiece of his campaign, Cruz noted that Trump had donated money to several of the senators who co-sponsored the Gang of Eight bill.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431964/houston-republican-debate-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-attack-donald-trump

[Geee]

Trump busted: Video shows he blatantly lied on healthcare in debate

 

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-busted-video-shows-he-lied-on-healthcare-in-debate/article/2584300

[Geee]

Who got the most speaking time at the GOP debate?

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/who-got-the-most-speaking-time-at-the-gop-debate/article/2584297

[Geee]

Trump on defensive in nasty GOP debate

 

 

Donald Trump fended off tough questions Thursday night about his business empire’s hiring practices including a million-dollar fine for hiring illegal immigrants and admitted he’s facing a federal tax audit, as the Republican presidential campaign turned exceptionally nasty at the final debate before Super Tuesday.

 

Mr. Trump called fellow candidate Sen. Ted Cruz a “basket case,” while Mr. Cruz said Mr. Trump is hiding something in his finances, and accused him of being a political turncoat who’s shipped hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic causes throughout his career.

 

Sen. Marco Rubio called Mr. Trump a one-trick candidate who can’t detail his health care plans, and accused him of being a rich kid who benefited from his father’s money. And Ohio Gov. John Kasich said the rest of the field appeared to be trying to chase voters away from the GOP by the tone of the campaign.

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/25/donald-trump-defends-hiring-foreign-workers-says-h/

[Geee]

Romney: 'No legit reason' for Trump to withhold tax returns

 

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/romney-no-legit-reason-for-trump-to-withhold-tax-returns/article/2584290

[Geee]

Rubio and Cruz take the gloves off against Trump

 

 

Marco Rubio took on Donald Trump like never before at the Republican presidential debate Thursday night, with Ted Cruz not too far behind.

 

The Florida senator challenged Trump's sincerity on his signature issue, immigration. He suggested that if Trump hadn't inherited $200 million from his family, he would be "selling watches on the street in Manhattan." And he may have even pulled a Chris Christie on Trump.

 

Rubio worked to draw out Trump's lack of command over policy details. He called attention to Trump repeatedly saying he would replace Obamacare by eliminating the "lines" around states, seemingly a reference to allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines.

 

When Trump shot back that he watched Rubio "melt down" on the stage in the debate before the New Hampshire, the Floridian quipped, "I watched you repeat yourself five times five seconds ago."

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/marco-rubio-and-ted-cruz-take-the-gloves-off-against-trump/article/2584261

[Geee]

Time for Kasich to go

 

 

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/time-for-john-kasich-to-go/article/2584295

[Geee]

Poll: Who won the Republican debate?

 

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/polls/2016/feb/25/who-won-republican-debate/

 

 

 

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This makes me just sick !!!!!!!!!!

[Valin]

Poll: Who won the Republican debate?

 

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/polls/2016/feb/25/who-won-republican-debate/

 

 

 

_______________________________________________

 

This makes me just sick !!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Does the phrase Freep This Poll ring a bell?

[Valin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOxEO1TqIHs

 

Not that it means a damn thing to the morons T-Bots

[Draggingtree]

9 Quick Takeaways From Last Night’s GOP Debate In Texas

 

By Mollie Hemingway FEBRUARY 26, 2016

Last night CNN featured yet another fun debate in the Republican contest for the presidential nomination. Expectations going in were extremely low. Even though most Republican voters oppose Donald Trump, the lack of consensus means that Trump has secured decisive wins in early primary and caucus states. Conservatives and others not keen on Trump’s morality or policies, such as they are, had begun to give up hope.

 

The smaller group of candidates enabled more time with each one. Both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz used some of this time to target front-runner Trump. Here are a few of the night’s big takeaways.

 

1. Rubio, Cruz Show Up and Fight

 

For some inexplicable reason, previous debates had candidates going quite easy on Trump. Only Cruz and Jeb Bush had tried to land punches, with varying success. But last night, Rubio and Cruz both went after Trump. And they did so relentlessly. They hit him hard on policy

http://thefederalist.com/2016/02/26/9-quick-takeaways-from-last-nights-gop-debate-in-texas/

[Geee]

 

Poll: Who won the Republican debate?

 

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/polls/2016/feb/25/who-won-republican-debate/

 

 

 

_______________________________________________

 

This makes me just sick !!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Does the phrase Freep This Poll ring a bell?

 

 

TRReep this poll

[Draggingtree]

Last Night’s Debate Changed the Race

By: Leon H. Wolf (Diary) | February 26th, 2016 at 09:59 AM

As an indication of how bad last night’s debate was for Trump, his supporters are going around on the Internet today saying “Debates don’t matter, voters do!” This is, for reference, the exact same thing Rubio supporters said the day after his disastrous debate in New Hampshire, and we see how that turned out.

 

Look, it’s entirely possible that literally nothing can dent Trump’s support, but what we do know is that nothing like what happened to Trump last night has ever been tried. Marco Rubio, of all people, actually out-insulted Trump, but did so without stooping to Trump’s rhetorical level. Whenever Trump has been attacked in previous debates, his comebacks have always lacked substance, but last night they in addition looked… lame.

http://www.redstate.com/leon_h_wolf/2016/02/26/last-nights-debate-changed-race/

[Draggingtree]

Early Voting Could Dampen Effect Of Trump Debate Debacle

By Steve Berman | February 26, 2016, 09:55am

In every state where Donald Trump has triumphed in the primaries (and even in Iowa where he lost to Ted Cruz), the trend in 2016 has been for record and massive turnout at the polls. But early voting is on a record pace, and could dampen the effects of Trump’s truly ghastly debate performance last night.

 

Let’s look at Georgia.

http://theresurgent.com/early-voting-could-dampen-effect-of-trump-debate-debacle/

[Valin]

@Geee

 

It seems to me that this election cycle is almost all Poll Driven. It's hard to find a story/article that at one point (and often more than one) doesn't mention/highlight a candidates poll numbers. DT's campaign is almost exclusively poll driven, he is always mentioning touting bragging about his poll numbers. As if that is a good reason to support him.

[Geee]

@Geee

 

It seems to me that this election cycle is almost all Poll Driven. It's hard to find a story/article that at one point (and often more than one) doesn't mention/highlight a candidates poll numbers. DT's campaign is almost exclusively poll driven, he is always mentioning touting bragging about his poll numbers. As if that is a good reason to support him.

 

I was thinking during the debate that he has all the poll numbers just floating out of his mouth one after the other like they are the most important facts out of any facts and that if only he could spout foreign or domestic facts on issues he wouldn't sound like such an a**

[nickydog]

 

@Geee

 

It seems to me that this election cycle is almost all Poll Driven. It's hard to find a story/article that at one point (and often more than one) doesn't mention/highlight a candidates poll numbers. DT's campaign is almost exclusively poll driven, he is always mentioning touting bragging about his poll numbers. As if that is a good reason to support him.

 

I was thinking during the debate that he has all the poll numbers just floating out of his mouth one after the other like they are the most important facts out of any facts and that if only he could spout foreign or domestic facts on issues he wouldn't sound like such an a**

 

 

But he would still look like one.

[Geee]

 

 

@Geee

 

It seems to me that this election cycle is almost all Poll Driven. It's hard to find a story/article that at one point (and often more than one) doesn't mention/highlight a candidates poll numbers. DT's campaign is almost exclusively poll driven, he is always mentioning touting bragging about his poll numbers. As if that is a good reason to support him.

 

I was thinking during the debate that he has all the poll numbers just floating out of his mouth one after the other like they are the most important facts out of any facts and that if only he could spout foreign or domestic facts on issues he wouldn't sound like such an a**

 

 

But he would still look like one.

 

 

Another thought I had last night. Finally Rubio and Cruz are asking the questions that the press and the last ten debates should have asked of him months ago. (remember when the press used to actually vet candidate? ) Then something occurred to me - DJT is one of the richest men in NY. Practically all of these journalists live and work in NY. Can you say intimidation???? - that is the ones that are not actually personal friends of his.

[Valin]

@Geee

 

Maybe, but it could also be that DT is such an easy story to write. Back when Jesse Ventura was running of Governor here a local columnist/talkshow host Joe Soucheray said every columnist/reporter in the state wants Jesse to win, because their columns articles practically write themselves. Same with DT. I don't blame Trump for being Trump...I do however blame the idiot supporter who buy into his shtick. They are who I am at war with.

 

From Babylon 5

 

"When others do a foolish thing, you should tell them it is a foolish thing. They can still continue to do it, but at least the truth is where it needs to be."

[Draggingtree]

You Blew It, Kasich, Move Aside

Much will be written about the utter thrashing GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump took at the hands of the far-more prepared, knowledgeable, qualified and otherwise principled Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio during Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate on CNN. I will, therefore, focus, instead, on another Republican candidate who’s absolutely got to go: Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

By Matt Barber -- American Politics