Trump came out swinging — but ended up missing. Not only wasn’t he substantive — again — but he made some pretty bizarre statements. He thinks a flat tax is more complicated than a regressive tax. He said that vaccines cause autism. He wants Syria and ISIS to fight each other. He will get along with Putin. This stuff doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. The question is whether any is ever applied to Trump.
Ben Carson also suffered some serious stumbles that will likely hurt him, namely the bizarre suggestion that a “bully pulpit” would have been a better response to 9/11 than fighting terrorists. Saying that Americans aren’t willing to perform agriculture jobs, that our Air Force isn’t “capable” and our Marines aren’t “ready,” is pretty irresponsible stuff.
I think Carly Fiorina, on the other hand, managed to beat already high expectations. She was sharp, quick on her feet and delivered more than one great applause line. Particularly effective was her emotional plea to defund Planned Parenthood. And she used every opportunity to get as granular and specific on policy as she could. I expect her poll numbers to rise.
Winners: Fiorina, Chris Christie and Marco Rubio had good nights.
Losers: Trump and Carson.