So just like CNN, we took the bottom 4 candidates and gave them their own event back in part 1...and now we hit the top tier in part 2. If you need a review of what the numbers after the name mean, read the intro to part 1. With that out of the way, here we go
#7 Jeb Bush. (3/3)
Early on, Bush got in a fight with Trump over if Trump attempted (and failed) to set up gambling in Florida. While Bush was in fact correct, Trump had tried, and Bush had stopped him, he was unable to win the fight, due to having basically nothing to say when Trump denied it. He didnt mention the amount donated, the year, or even Trumps conversations with the speaker of the House, or comments made as recently as last year by trump about it.
He instead let it turn into a he said, he said.
He then backed down on his position on Kim Davis after being confronted by Huckabee.
Then he went back to Trump, demanding an applogy for comments Trump made about his wife. Which he didnt get....and then immediately dropped the issue.
Course he rebounded well after that, as he did manage to successfully defend his position on Immigration (opposed to the fence) and speaking Spanish, and even how he can claim to be different than his father and brother if all his advisors worked for them (being the 2 most recent republican presidents who else is he going to pick), and his position on Pot, and its only on the successful defenses here that he managed to place above Fiornia and Carson.
Of course I might have placed him slightly higher based on that late improvement if it wasnt for one last exchange with Trump in which he said the following:
"BUSH: You know what? As it relates to my brother, there’s one thing I know for sure. He kept us safe.
I don’t know if you remember … Donald.… you remember the — the rubble?[...]
Yea, I do remember the rubble....it happened on your brothers watch...so yea good job on the keeping us safe bit.
#6 Rand Paul (9/4)
Rand Paul gave pretty much the debate performance you'd expect here, pretty much full of exactly the same comments hes made for years. So under that metric it was a good debate for him, as he did get his message out. He also had the line of the night in my opinion in this exchange.
"I think one of the great problems, and what American people don’t like about politics, is hypocrisy. People have one standard for others and not for them — for themselves.
There is at least one prominent example on the stage of someone who says they smoked pot in high school, and yet the people going to — to jail for this are poor people, often African-Americans and often Hispanics, and yet the rich kids who use drugs aren’t.
[...]
TAPPER: I want to give that — I want to give the person that you called a hypocrite an opportunity to respond. Do you want to identify that person?
PAUL: Well, I think if we left it open, we could see how many people smoked pot in high school.
Turned out Bush admitted it was him, but I got to give credit, that was a funny ass justification for not naming him directly.
Of course, Rand Paul did make 1 piece of news in this debate...and its what stopped him from going any higher. Which is that, like Huckabee and Trump...he has not in fact read the 14th amendment and believes its possible it doesnt say "all persons born" in the united states. And in typical rand paul fashion, he cited something, in this case a SCOTUS case, that actually disproves his point (he claimed that the Supreme Court had only ruled on the amendment covering legal immigration, in fact the ruling said the circumstances of the birth here are irrelevant) as support for his case. Granted Rand knowing not of which he speaks is pretty classic Rand Paul, so I guess I shouldnt be too surprised.
#5 John Kasich (8/2)
Basically got no time to talk, but at least managed to use what little he had to lay out the case for him, including what he sees as his major accomplishment, helping create a balanced budget in the 90's.
he scores here because like Paul he said nothing new, and didnt really have any memorable moments....but also, unlike those below him didnt say anything really bad either. And lastly unlike the other candidates who got almost no time to speak (Walker and Huckabee) Kasich did a much better job of spacing himself out over the 3 hours....so there was never a time it appeared he was just not participating in the debate
#4 Ted Cruz (4/6)
Ok, this one hurts. I really really dont want to put Cruz here I really dont because I think hes a fucking nutjob. However the simple truth of the matter is, on every policy he commented on, he did a great job of clearly laying out what his position is...even if I dont agree with it.
To be fair though I would call it a tie with Kasich expect for Cruz's answer on money. He was the only candidate who thought it was a stupid idea to replace the father of US money (Hamilton) on the 10, and instead embraced the idea (supported by many people, myself included) that we should instead put a woman on the 20...so we can get rid of the raging racist.
Is it a dumb justification for putting him over Kasich, sure....but when both performances are that bland, I did need something.
#3 Chris Christie. (10/10)
In my last analysis I said Christie was barely treading water...and while his placement in this debate bears that out, he damn sure did a lot to improve himself in my opinion.
For starters he came out swinging hard, basically getting Carson to back down on a criticism of him right out the gate. He also managed to wave his record in New Jersey around on all kinds of issues, from taxes to planned parenthood and even drugs (in which he stands opposed to most of the field) and climate, and wouldnt back down when challenged on his opinion on a government shutdown.
And he delivered a pretty epic double bitch smack to both Trump and Fiorina when he effectively ended their pissing contest on who was the worse businessperson
"Jake listen. While I’m as entertained as anyone by this personal back-and-forth about the history of Donald and Carly’s career, for the 55-year-old construction worker out in that audience tonight who doesn’t have a job, who can’t fund his child’s education, I’ve got to tell you the truth. They could care less about your careers, they care about theirs."
Granted he is still lying about his role post 9/11 / his appointment as federal prosecutor as he did in the last debate so as to make it seem like he was picked because of 9/11 and how clearly qualified he was...but exploiting 9/11 is pretty standard in the GOP...it did however keep him from going any higher.
#2 Donald Trump (1/1)
Ok so here's the thing, Donald Trump does not deserve this spot. He said nothing of value and managed to look even fucking crazier than he already did by coming out as an anti vaxer.
However as you may have noticed, there was a long line of candidates, Carson, Fiorina, Jeb, who refused to take a swing at him, and a couple more, Walker, Jeb (again) he basically managed to shout down to the point they shut up and moved on without challenging him.
So its basically impossible not to give him a top spot. Its just he got it less because of anything he did, and more due to everyone elses refusal to attack or challenge him.
#1 Marco Rubio (6/8)
Ladies and gentlemen, your winner.
So much like Cruz and Kasich, Rubio was spot on on clearly laying out and justifying his polices, and he managed to look like the foreign policy expert with his answer on Russia and Syria. Trump even challenged him on Syria and he was able to shut Trump down (only candidate to do it that night, hence why he gets the top spot) and then came back later on a different question, in which Trump was asked about Rubio's criticism of him of not knowing foreign leaders names, and managed to shut him down again. And all this came before successfully deflecting the idea hes a climate change denier (and he is) into he just opposes the lefts policies to combat it. So he actually managed to look more reasonable than he is, while also not looking less hardcore to the conservatives.
Really other than a couple of jokes that fell flat there wasnt much Rubio did wrong...and even one of those jokes, where he brought his own water bottle, showed he is at least aware of the public perception and memory of him and knows he has to work that in his favor.
So there you have it folks, what the ranking SHOULD be for the GOP coming out of Debate 2.
For those curious the candidate show showed the most improvement in my placements would be Marco Rubio, jumping 8 points, and Walker had the worst showing, falling from 5th to 11th.
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