Talk time: 1 Trump 5:06 2 Bush 4:29 3 Crz 3:30 4 Rbio 3:00 5 Chrstie 2:50 6 Carson 2:45 7 Kasich 2:11 8 Huck 2:03 9 Paul 2:01 10 Walker 1:54
That was as of about 10pm EST. Seems unofficial, but it got picked up by a couple major news sources, so it's likely fairly accurate.
I'm starting to filter through many of the responses and clips from the debate. Undoubtedly a good night for Kasich. First, he got into the debate, which was in some question when he announced his candidacy last week. Second, I can't find any negative reactions to his comments.
It seems Trump wasn't hurt by his occasional outbursts. The field will have to narrow some before he's in any real danger; at this point the top 2-3 guys are likely just standing pat, while the ones behind in the polls need to make a splash. I lol'd at Trump when he ducked out of the question on illegal immigration, but he also had a few really strong responses that I've seen or read.
The commentary on Hillary did seem to assume her as the Democratic nominee, which is a little surprising. I won't get into the fear debate that the forum seems to be obsessed with - I find it largely irrelevant - but one or two comments did steer the debate toward Hillary-bashing. I would have avoided it entirely, were I them. Tonight was either about differentiating themselves as candidates, or not screwing up (Trump, Bush, etc.). And you're not going to be able to take a stand on Hillary-bashing; there's no differentiation to be had there among GOP candidates. Everyone's basically the same there.
And ouch to Walker's air time. He's up there with Trump, Bush, and Rubio in the polls right now iirc. Only comments I see about him are about how it felt like he wasn't there.
Liberal media isn't important right now. Conservative media is. They'll control the narrative for the GOP until the nomination. Trump's antagonism toward Fox may end up being a thorn in his side. But if they don't go after him for this debate, it will have been a win for him.
