Did you watch the CNBC Debate from start to finish?

[dudeabides]

I did, and here are my comments:

Marco Rubio - Senator Rubio came across as poised, serious, presidential, articulate, and as the candidate the Clinton's would fear the most. He has a good grasp of the issues. He was clearly the winner.

John Kasich - Governor Kasich had a solid performance, his epic attacks on Donald Trump and Ben Carson should help him. However, he has not been very specific on policy and has relied on experience thus far.

Carly Fiorina - Carly Fiorina is very articulate and is clearly the smartest of the three non-politicians running in terms of leadership. However, she didn't do anything to help her in the polls.

Mike Huckabee - Governor Huckabee held his own, but he didn't say anything to stand out. He tried, perhaps too hard, to be the populist in the race.

Chris Christie - Clearly, the Christie strategy is to make Republican primary voters believe he's the best person to win a general election. He is very good at public speaking, but he didn't say anything to stand out.

Jeb Bush - Governor Bush had a very average performance tonight. He successfully made the case as to why on policy, he is a strong candidate. However, he comes across as nervous, he is going too far to try and "lose the primary to win the general," and his attack on Senator Rubio was silly.

Ted Cruz - Senator Cruz is very slick and that has probably hurt his performance in past debates. Tonight, he held his own attacking the media. I wouldn't say he is great at debates, but he did a good job tonight.

Ben Carson - Doctor Carson comes across as thoughtful, and he held his own against the "gotcha" questions. But he has to learn about policy more.

Rand Paul - Like Jeb Bush, Rand Paul was average tonight. He needed to be more aggressive against his opponents and he has to stop trying to win over conservatives and focus on winning over libertarians and independents.

Donald Trump - Mr. Trump continued do do what he does best: entertain. He couldn't answer questions on policy, he came across as obnoxious, and he is unrefined. He was the clear loser of this debate.

[dudeabides]

Donald Trump - Mr. Trump continued do do what he does best: entertain. He couldn't answer questions on policy, he came across as obnoxious, and he is unrefined. He was the clear loser of this debate.

Not really. He was boring and repetitive and only recited old, and by now pretty lame, talking points. However, he didn't make a disgrace of himself like in the past two debates. And the one time he was attacked, by Kasich, he hit back really hard and on point. I believe that he must have prepared that Kasich knock for a few months already. It was effective and he could keep standing, unlike that embarrassing moment he had versus Fiorina in the previous debate. I'd rank Trump as the 5th or 6th best in the debate, while I think I had him dead last in the previous two debates.

I concede Trump was not as bad as in the first two debates, but he was plenty bad. Kasich got the most out of that exchange, Trump's argument on fracking was probably partially true, but his point on Lehman Brother's was really quite lame.