Long story short from Las Vegas on Tuesday:
It was long on substance.
Candidates were asked about national security issues, immigration policy, government surveillance and naughty things the candidates have said about each other on the campaign trail.
Florida senator Marco Rubio and Texas senator Ted Cruz locked horns ...
... over Rubio’s support for immigration reform and over Cruz’s support for reining in NSA surveillance. Both fought expertly. No clear winner declared.
Donald Trump said he had no plan to run ...
... as a third-party candidate. (Sorry.) “I am totally committed to the Republican party,” Trump said as the festivities were concluding.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush repeatedly attacked Trump
He called him the “chaos candidate” and said: “You’re not going to insult your way to president of the United States.”
Was it such a combative night?
Not really – neither Cruz nor Rubio, nor New Jersey governor Chris Christie, opted to totally tangle with Trump, who himself passed on an invitation to go after Cruz. (Christie did, however, call President Obama a “feckless weakling”.)
Did Trump botch a question?
There was one about the country’s triad of nuclear defenses. He didn’t answer a question about which needed updating most urgently.
He will learn the rudimentary basics of commanding the nation's most powerful military so fast your head will spin. https://t.co/L109yXEtui
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) December 16, 2015
Rubio left the door open on a path to citizenship on immigration
At least for some undocumented migrants, which is considered heresy in some corners of the Republican party. “I personally am open to people having the possibility of applying for a green card,” he said – after 10 years’ probation and strict tests.
Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator, did go after Trump
Because, you know, Trump said he wanted to shred the Constitution. But Trump pretty much ignored him.
A (sort of) substantive big-picture debate broke out!
Over whether it’s better for the US national security to have dictators in the Middle East. This, however, remains unresolved.
And former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina quoted Thatcher
“Margaret Thatcher once said, if you want something talked about, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.”
