Fox News 1st tier GOP candidate debate @9pm ET **live commentary thread**

[Horsemask]

Entertaining debate. Knew Christie and Paul would be going at it, glad they did for better or for worse because it helped make this debate memorable.

Really impressed with Kasich...which naturally means he won't win the nomination.

I wouldn't write off his chances just yet.

I'll stay positive for now. He really seemed presidential to me in that last debate. My respect for him has increased ten-fold.

[jojoju1998]

Entertaining debate. Knew Christie and Paul would be going at it, glad they did for better or for worse because it helped make this debate memorable.

Really impressed with Kasich...which naturally means he won't win the nomination.

I wouldn't write off his chances just yet.

I'll stay positive for now. He really seemed presidential to me in that last debate. My respect for him has increased ten-fold.

John Kasich.... did very well. I'm rooting for him. Trump, most of us can agree, is fading.

[The Free North]

I wonder if bret baker is banging megyn kelly on the side

[Progressive]

I think the biggest takeaway is that Jeb Bush really is lackluster

[dudeabides]

Grades
Chris Christie A+
Rand Paul A-
Marco Rubio A-
Mike Huckabee B+
Jeb Bush B+
Scott Walker B+
John Kasich B-
Ted Cruz B-
Ben Carson D
Donald Trump F

Winner: Chris Christie
Loser: Donald Trump

[TarHeelDem]

Could anyone here link me to a place where I could watch the full debate? I just got home from work.

Reposting this because I really, really, really want to watch it tonight.

[Reluctant Republican]

Could anyone here link me to a place where I could watch the full debate? I just got home from work.

Reposting this because I really, really, really want to watch it tonight.

Not the whole debate, but most of it seems to be uploaded here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCnvwM8Jat0

I'm sure a better link will be up shortly.

[dudeabides]

As a Jeb Bush supporter, I don't think he knocked it out of the park. Chris Christie is the one clearly had the best night. But Bush's performance was steady and he will benefit when Trump's poll numbers slip and as people realize Trump is a joke.

[Horsemask]

As a Jeb Bush supporter, I don't think he knocked it out of the park. Chris Christie is the one clearly had the best night. But Bush's performance was steady and he will benefit when Trump's poll numbers slip and as people realize Trump is a joke.

I do think Bush had a better night tonight than the NH forum the other day. I was waiting for him to make a BIG splash, and I feel like it didn't happen. But I really did like some of his answers.

[dudeabides]

FOX focus group says Carson and Huckabee were the best... what??

Huckabee did well, but Carson only looked good if you were comparing him to Donald Trump. He's not a serious candidate.

[SWE]

Kasich won.

No real person thinks this

Leave.

Oh no! Somebody just criticized one of my posts! Better go ask the mods for a ban. 

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I support Hillary, but I walked away liking Kasich.

Which, yeah, spells certain doom for this campaign.

[Mr. Morden]

Trump: Megyn Kelly behaved very badly

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/07/donald-trump-fox-anchor-megyn-kelly-behaved-very-badly/

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Recalling the debate exchange:

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[Zioneer]

Honestly, Kasich and Trump won in my opinion. Kasich because he was a decent human being and because he performed well for barely getting into the debates, and Trump, because they just couldn't stick him with something. I don't think he lost at all. Trump was like Teflon.

The losers were Paul, Christie, Huckabee, Jeb, Carson, and Walker. Paul and Christie because of their verbal slapfight, which was very unprofessional. And because they were lackluster for the rest of it. Huckabee was profoundly boring, and his angry evangelical shtick was silly. Jeb came across as stuttering and amatuerish. Carson was both boring and in way over his head. He'll drop out soon. And I honestly forgot Walker existed for most of the debate.

Rubio was okay, I guess. Boring, but disciplined. And Cruz, eh, he lost, but not as bad as the losers. He's proved his debating chops though.

[eric82oslo]

Trump: "We need Jeb to build the wall." Jeb looked at him and smiled happily lol.

Why did he say that? Accidental slip of the tongue, his subconscious thoughts reaching the surface?

[Brittain33]

I think the biggest takeaway is that Jeb Bush really is lackluster

That's the perfect word for it.

[MisSkeptic]

Trump: "We need Jeb to build the wall." Jeb looked at him and smiled happily lol.

Why did he say that? Accidental slip of the tongue, his subconscious thoughts reaching the surface?

Jeb Bush... Build The WALL!

I caught that too and wonder if Trump is trying to play with Jeb's head; most likely, or he's trying to show that frontrunner is just another "RINO" voters shouldn't support.

[Blair]

Lol at Carson accusing the democrats of using low information voters

[Tender Branson]

I didn't watch the debate yet, because it would have meant getting up at 3am and I had to work today.

Will probably watch it this weekend.

Was it interesting ?

(no spoilers please, thx)

[eric82oslo]

I didn't watch the debate yet, because it would have meant getting up at 3am and I had to work today.

Will probably watch it this weekend.

Was it interesting ?

(no spoilers please, thx)

The debate started off with a big atomic bomb coming from Trump and didn't get much more boring after that either exactly. Except for the snooze that was Walker, and the awkward stumbles of Rand (including his body language which signaled to the voters that he is still a 14 year old school boy overly satisfied with his cheap, silly punches - and a few extreme utterances from the usual suspects (Walker, Huckabee, Cruz, even Rubio once) that will ensure that they will have a really hard time in the election (Walker even did go as far as not even willing to commit to saving a mother's life in order to make sure that ever unborn child is brought into the world - try to beat that anyone! What a total jackass) - they all delivered at least a few good moments. Rubio was a revelation countless of times during the debate, perhaps especially when talking about illegal immigration [his perceived mayor flaw going into the debate] (what a gigantic contrast to Kate's Law "let's imprison illegal immigrants for at least 5 years" Cruz), and policywise probably was the big winner of the debate. Kasich probably was the big winner for moderate independents, Democrats and liberal Republicans, while Carson, followed by Rubio, then Christie and finally Kasich, were the winners on tone and how they comported themselves. Trump, Walker and Paul were the big losers. Jeb did neither awful nor distinguish himself, if anything he might win a few new supporters, yet I can't imagining him losing any old ones from his pretty solid, although very nervous, performance. Also, there was one moment in the debate when I felt like Jeb suddenly became an impersonator of his older brother, with the same body language and all. Really awkward, creepy and scary. Luckily it didn't last longer than half a minute or less. I hope I'll never see that side of him again, cause if there's something I hate beyond words, it's W. And Jeb is far too intelligent to start mimic his stupid brother.

[Tender Branson]

I have now finally downloaded both debates in HD quality, which means 3 hours of debate watching ...

[Simfan34]

Three and a half.

[Tender Branson]

Three and a half.

It's without all the annoying commercial breaks ...

[Kingpoleon]

Honestly, Kasich and Trump won in my opinion. Kasich because he was a decent human being and because he performed well for barely getting into the debates, and Trump, because they just couldn't stick him with something. I don't think he lost at all. Trump was like Teflon.

Bettrr than Hillary and Sanders, that's for sure.

[Zioneer]

Honestly, Kasich and Trump won in my opinion. Kasich because he was a decent human being and because he performed well for barely getting into the debates, and Trump, because they just couldn't stick him with something. I don't think he lost at all. Trump was like Teflon.

Bettrr than Hillary and Sanders, that's for sure.

Sanders is a decent human being too, but whatever.