Although there was no clear winner of the debate, there were many notable moments that rocked Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.
It was evident that businessman Donald Trump stole the show with his blunt, sarcastic remarks, arousing controversy from the get-go. When the candidates were asked by moderator Bret Baier if they would be willing to run independently in the event that they were not chosen to represent the Republican Party, Trump was the only one to raise his hand.
This sparked a strong reaction from Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who said what everyone was too afraid to: "He's already hedging his bets because he's used to buying politicians.”
Paul, a self-proclaimed “Reagan Conservative,” was by far the most combative of the night, firing back at Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) over concerns about the effectiveness of the National Security Agency (NSA).
Aside from Paul, the rest of the candidates played it safe, thus giving a mediocre, lackluster performance.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Wisconsin Senator Scott Walker, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee were among the few that failed to leave a lasting impression.
Ohio Governor John Kasich, an obvious crowd favorite, drew raucous praise from every patron in the arena. His gentle, god-fearing, soccer-dad-from-next-door persona most definitely scored him brownie points with the American public.
When questioned about Trump’s merit, he refused to throw his fellow candidate under the bus.
His most buzzworthy moment? When asked how he would respond if any of his children came out as gay, he said, “Because somebody doesn’t think the way I do, doesn’t mean that I can’t care about them or love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them.”
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, staunchly pro-life, made his views on women’s reproductive rights very clear. Proud of his work ending partial birth abortions and raising adoption rates during his term as governor, Bush is attempting to instill a culture of life that will adhere to his Christian faith.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) delivered possibly the best response to any question during the entire debate. When questioned about his qualifications, Rubio replied, “This election cannot be a resume competition. It's important to be qualified; but if this election is a resume competition, then Hillary Clinton is going to be the next president.”
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, then went on to say: "If I'm our nominee, how is Hillary Clinton going to lecture me about living paycheck to paycheck? I was raised paycheck to paycheck. How is she going to lecture me about student loans? I owed $100,000 just four years ago.”
All in all, the highly anticipated GOP debate left many underwhelmed at best. With the wide array of topics thrown around, such as immigration, entitlement and education reforms, defunding Planned Parenthood, opposing the Iran Nuclear Deal, and repealing Obamacare, the conversation always came back to the same old assessment of Hillary Clinton’s job performance (I guess they forgot Bernie Sanders is running too) and opposition to any and all of President Obama’s congressional proposals.
In the words of The Donald himself, “Our country is in trouble.”
And should any of the top 10 GOP candidates, based on their performance, take office in 2016, that might be the only viable statement that we will ever hear from Donald Trump.
