With seven qualifiers in Thursday night's Fox News primetime debate — and a noticeably absent Donald Trump — analysts are divided on who the real "winner" of the night was. Generally, most agree that Sen. Ted Cruz had an awkward night after he grew snappy with the moderators for tough questions while Jeb Bush showed some badly overdue liveliness. Here is a look at what some experts had to say:
"Cruz had a fantastic ethanol answer, but he didn't shine tonight like he did last time. Bush was better. Rand Paul did extremely well." — Charles C. W. Cooke, writer for National Review"Rand Paul was my surprise best of the night. He was crisp, sharp and to the point." — Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary for President George W. Bush"Jeb Bush is like a Shakespeare protagonist wandering through a Charlie Sheen sitcom." — Glenn Thrush, chief political correspondent of Politico"I think Rubio probably won tonight’s debate. Unintended consequence of Trump skipping the debate?" — Matt Lewis, senior contributor to The Daily Caller"While Trump was across town being carried live by every other network, and while he, not the other GOP candidates, dominated social media, the rest of the Republican field desperately and hopelessly failed to catch up to him." — Brad Woodhouse, president of the liberal research group Correct the Record [The New York Times]
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