Rubio Wrecked

Last night's debate was as entertaining as it was informative.  This late in the race, it's do or die for many candidates, and they needed a stellar showing to improve their chances in New Hampshire.  For others, they just needed to keep up their momentum and not trip up.

Here's a take on the performances last night:

Got Better

• Jeb Bush - This was his best debate yet.  Still, his persona is wooden, and there was not enough delivered to put off the inevitable:  Bush is toast.
• John Kasich - He finally delivered some construct to his debate arguments, and is definitely trying to position himself as the most moderate candidate in the field.  He's invested a huge amount of time and dollars in NH, and we'll see if that, combined with the debate performance, gets him anywhere.
• Ted Cruz - He looked the most presidential last night.  He was human in delivering the story of his drug-addicted sister, was genuine and sincere on his explanation (and apology) for the Ben Carson situation, and laced the "gotcha" question about the North Korean missile to the gap for a double.  His performance was pretty much flawless.

Trended Sideways

• Donald Trump - Again, he was bereft of details, but it doesn't seem to matter to anyone.  Those that were already Trump fans likely enjoyed it, and those that were not weren't swayed
• Ben Carson - There just wasn't anything of substance to move his campaign off to a different trajectory.  

Got Worse

• Marco Rubio - The early exchange between him and Christie was difficult to watch.  Rubio wasn't prepared, and needed to be as the attack was obviously going to come (perhaps not from Christie, but it was going to come).  Was it brutal enough to scuttle a campaign?  Boy, that's a good question.  His responses were that awkward and that bad.  Time will tell, but Marco had a terrible night.
• Chris Christie - Many are stating that Christie won last night's debate, and he very well may have done so.  However, he do so by appearing to come off as a blowhard and a bully.  I think the net effect is that he'll pay for it.  He may have won the battle but lost the war because of it.