Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Last night marked the second Republican presidential primary debate, and like the first Fox News debate, it got heated.
For those who missed it, CNN posted a 3 minute recap of the highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVwhn1ND7FM
It was open season on Donald Trump, who was forced to explain or defend numerous insulting comments made about his opponents in the weeks leading up to the debate.
The second Republican primary debate veered into serious policy territory – covering everything from Iran to Russia to Planned Parenthood to immigration. But, at times to the visible frustration of candidates trying to stick to those issues, few segments passed without a sparring session between Trump and one of his opponents. Almost every time, Trump hit back – and it was unclear whether any candidate would be able to dent his front-runner status.
The candidate perhaps most eager to knock the billionaire businessman down a peg was former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who lost his lead to Trump over the summer. Repeatedly, Bush challenged Trump on his record and past comments.
It was a great night for Carly Fiorina, who is being praised this morning by multiple columnists and news outlets as the undisputed winner of the debate. Marco Rubio got rave reviews for his debate performance as well. But the real question is- did anybody successfully “Take Down the Trump?” If the policy discussions keep coming back to Donald Trump, did they really knock him down a peg?
As of this morning, Real Clear Politics poll averages have Trump leading nationally with 30.5%, followed by Dr. Ben Carson at 20%, Jeb Bush in a distant 7.8% and Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio with 6.8% and 5.3%, respectively.