The Fox News anchors moderating Thursday's 5 p.m. debate for the second tier of Republican presidential candidates weren't too kind on the contestants, opening the proceedings with cold, insistent reminders of their junior varsity status. In that respect, there weren't too many winners in this debate, and no candidate shined so spectacularly that he could be considered a lock to move into the top 10 in time for the next debate in September.
The exception was the sole woman on stage, Carly Fiorina, who was polished in her responses and had the best zinger against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, whose many heresies include sleeping with the enemy, figuratively speaking.
The big loser of the debate was probably Rick Perry, who managed to improve on his disastrous 2012 debate performance, but didn't live up to his pre-debate reputation as the most likely JV squad member to graduate to varsity.
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Sorry, Rick Perry. There's always the possibility that a candidate or two in the top 10 will implode when the main event begins at 9 p.m.
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