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[Premium Quality]

This was the train wreck I expected.
Liked Kasich up until the bank bail out question.
Carson keeps on staying below the radar. I was hoping he would have gone full crazy.

 

[Future PhaZe]

michael bay benghazi movie?

that can't be real

 

[NYCmetsfan]

This is the first one of these I've watched in its entirety. Do people watch these sober? How? Are you gods?

Prohibition ended a long time ago

 

[Arkos]

I watched it sober but I killed just as many brain cells as if I hadn't.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

Rand owned Trump and heroic music started playing.

Really?!?

 

[ibyea]

RIP my brain cells

 

[giga]

Let's get a poll on who won

Rubio all the way

More useful to see who lost. For the GOP ticket, there's no question it's Kasich, Paul, Fiorina, and Jeb!

 

[alejob]

Carson needs to stop talking about banking.

LOL No kidding.

Option C: Let people shift their money to another bank.

What money? you dumbass. If the a bank is failing it's because there is no money.

 

[Officerrob]

that ben carson interview after the debate was the most incoherent rambling wtf

His debate performances are just incoherent rambling

 

[CharminUltra]

Jeb can fix it

 

[thepotatoman]

Bush was the biggest loser tonight. Kasich got rag dolled like Barry Allen tonight but he had nothing to lose.

Bush fumbled, stuttered, looked unlikeable, and got totally outclassed by Rubio.

Ben Carson is literally Kodos in disguise.

Trump was given too many chances to be optimistic. It makes him more relatable. His numbers will continue to rise.

Edit: first commenter going in on Bush/Kasich banking blusters.

I agree, and would add that Rand Paul solidified his spot in the big boy debates. He'll never win with statements like he made tonight, but he distinguished himself in a way that 5% of republicans will love him for.

 

[Ovid]

that ben carson interview after the debate was the most incoherent rambling wtf

They tried to get his take on the bailout question but he sounded like a fool when he tried to answer it.

 

[params7]

Let's get a poll on who won

Rubio all the way

Rand for me. He stumped Trump. Other than him everybody did fine. The mods hit nobody with gotcha questions or tried to incite shitthrowing between candidates.

 

[UraMallas]

If that's real I'm voting Ben Carson.

Honestly, if this could be proven, I would jump on the Carson Train.

 

[Sickboy007]

This was the train wreck I expected.
Liked Kasich up until the bank bail out question.
Carson keeps on staying below the radar. I was hoping he would have gone full crazy.

He did go full crazy, you just have to 1.5x his speed to notice it.

 

[Dragon]

His debate performances are just incoherent rambling

Really hope he wins the nomination. He never challenges anyone on anything. He'd get murdered in an actual debate.

 

[RoKKeR]

Really?!?

Yes and it was amazing.

 

[The_Dama]

when is decision day?

 

[GiantEnemyGoomba]

Let's get a poll on who won

Rubio all the way

Yeah, when the Trump and Carson trains finally crash (although honestly I'm starting to question whether that'll happen), he'll be the one that surges and gets the nom.

 

[reptilescorpio]

So, did it basically change into a Republican Talking Points (tm) Infomercial with no substantive questions?

Correct.

 

[AntoneM]

I still fail to completely see how saying a flat tax plan is inherently un-Christian. Yes, there exists massive potential for it to negatively effect the poor. It's part of why I'm personally against it as well.

However, a thing I noticed while looking at financial records for the church I used to go to (used to because I had to go to college) was that during and following the 2007 economic crisis there was a massive downgrade in giving, which led to a massive downgrade in the amount of outreach and volunteer work the church was able to do. With the general increase in taxes due to the Obama administration, the church was continuously hindered in its efforts to return to what it used to do volunteer-wise, even as the economy has recovered.

Now, I think that regardless of who is president and what our taxes are, the church has a responsibility to help the downtrodden. But if a much more right-wing tax plan were in effect, it would really light a fire under the butts of many Christians (particularly evangelicals), as money coming in wouldn't be quite as big a problem any more, as well as the additional weight of knowing that they, as members of the community, need to play a role in helping the poor, as the government isn't going to do that job. Considering that Trump was (is?) leading among evangelicals, they could definitely use the wake-up call.

Now of course, all of this is hypotheticals, and I don't think it's quite the best way to go about things. But it is the main reason why I typically vote Republican. And it's also why I'm a big fan of Kasich, as he's one of the more "normal" Republicans that's a sort of descendent from the 80's rather than the crazies that currently run the show now. Unfortunately, he won't win it, and the days pass where it looks more and more likely that the nomination will go to Trump or Carson despite terrible performances in debates (including this one), which means I just won't vote and just move on with my life.

Thanks for bringing up points. It's been helpful for me personally, if only to hash stuff out in my head.

The things I bolded were for a reason.
Please provide proof of a general (as in affects all people) increase in taxes under Obama.

There is no evidence that I am aware of that more money in people's pockets as a result of lowered taxes would more than offset the money that the government spends on its programs for the poor and needy. Also, there is no evidence that charitable contributions for the things that are a problem would be addressed through charity. What charity will raise money to help ex-cons transition to post-incarceration life?

So you think that your way isn't the best way, but, want to vote for people who have no plans to address those who would be even more under-served by a charitable system that can't be proven to offset government programs and can't be proven to help all who need help?

 

[Premium Quality]

Am I the only one who noticed Carson's bad poker face?
When ever he avoided a question, he would roll his eyes back and blinked multiple times.

 

[ShadowKingpin]

Oh. My. LAWD.

 

[Kusagari]

Carson wants all you haters to jump in a lake.

 

[Sickboy007]

Am I the only one who noticed Carson's bad poker face?
When ever he avoided a question, he would roll his eyes back and blinked multiple times.

He's just trying to control the urge to stab.

 

[lawnchair]

Wow, Lou Dobbs still alive?

i love lou

 

[psynergylover]

LMAO!!!

 

[Premium Quality]

He's just trying to control the urge to stab.

Lol!

 

[Chie Satonaka]

I feel like Rand Paul actually did really well tonight.

 

[Ape]

More useful to see who lost. For the GOP ticket, there's no question it's Kasich, Paul, Fiorina, and Jeb!

Honestly yeah, I think Jeb is gone. After trying to not get caught up in the hyperbole surrounding how his campaign is doing you can't deny it now.

Kasich put a bullet in his own head.

Fiorina did good imo. She's not a serious candidate, probably never will be, but I thought she hit the right notes for the crowd.

Paul wasn't invisible, so that was good. Landed a few good points imo, still not a serious candidate.

Trump and Carson both didn't need to do much and didn't, so they probably will stay where they are.

Cruz I thought was a little weak, tbh. Then again I've never liked him.

However, the biggest take away is that Rubio's going to get the nomination.

 

[~Kinggi~]

Rand owned Trump and heroic music started playing.

this was honestly the highlight of the night for me. I laughed for like 4 minutes in a drunken stupor.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

I agree, and would add that Rand Paul solidified his spot in the big boy debates. He'll never win with statements like he made tonight, but he distinguished himself in a way that 5% of republicans will love him for.

Agree on Paul. It's so frustrating that he (and his father) can be so on the nose with all of the stuff that just flat out has not worked for American foreign policy, and just be followed by people screaming about violating Russia's airspace, giving unquestioned support to Israel, arming everyone, or putting troops in fucking Germany of all places. If a Republican has to win the presidency, can dude at least be secretary of state?

 

[UraMallas]

It really does feel like Rubio is the guy to me.

 

[nckillthegrimace]

Prohibition ended a long time ago

That Coolidge economy.

 

[aspiegamer]

Just book Trump vs Rubio for the finals and skip the rest of this.

Trump must have some actual advisers now, who have told him to keep his mouth closed most of the time and just operate on cruise control. Strategically this is the right move for him.
Rubio obviously has had a TON of coaching, with a canned answer for absolutely everything and incredibly specific retorts that all had specific triggers he was supposed to use them with. A 100% programmable candidate? The GOP is on board! If there was any question if Jeb! could miraculously jump back in it's now been answered (as no). Rubio is the clear establishment candidate, but I don't know how well he can cope with pressure. He misspoke tonight on some very basic/stupid stuff, including his programmed lines.

 

[chadskin]

Even the charts department at Politico is drunk.

 

[Manmademan]

Honestly yeah, I think Jeb is gone. After trying to not get caught up in the hyperbole surrounding how his campaign is doing you can't deny it now.

Kasich put a bullet in his own head.

Fiorina did good imo. She's not a serious candidate, probably never will be, but I thought she hit the right notes for the crowd.

Paul wasn't invisible, so that was good. Landed a few good points imo, still not a serious candidate.

Trump and Carson both didn't need to do much and didn't, so they probably will stay where they are.

Cruz I thought was a little weak, tbh. Then again I've never liked him.

However, the biggest take away is that Rubio's going to get the nomination.

here's the thing, depending on which polls you're looking at, Rubio has somewhere around 1/2 to 1/3 the support of Trump and Carson. Even if he takes ALL of Cruz and Bush's support he doesn't get anywhere close.

how does he take the nomination, with the race as it stands today

 

[Mass Effect]

I feel like Rand Paul actually did really well tonight.

I think he did as well. I almost always agree with him on his foreign policy, but it's so unfortunate that his economic polices are insane. I can't get over that.

 

[Revolver]

Let's get a poll on who won

Rubio all the way

Probably Rubio. He made my skin crawl the least. I was with Rand until he ventured into Crazytown and stayed. Kasich mostly sounded like an adult which means he's probably dead in the water. Trump was his usual boorish self and got faced by Rand and even Carly slapped one in, which means he'll undoubtedly win in the polls again for some reason. Carson continues to sleepwalk through these things unscathed. Jeb just has to be done. He was a total non-factor.

 

[Slacker]

that ben carson interview after the debate was the most incoherent rambling wtf

Did you see a spider or something while posting? Trying to figure out the "wtf" at the end. Surely it's not a response to incoherence from Gifted Hands. He has literally never said one thing that wasn't incoherent.

 

[Black Republican]

Ben Carson's campaign mgr says they raised $1M tonight, making $6M in November thus far: https://t.co/ODlvC8JdXR

 

[Manmademan]

I think he did as well. I almost always agree with him on his foreign policy, but it's so unfortunate that his economic polices are insane. I can't get over that.

Rand's foreign policy is extremely, hilariously isolationist and a side effect of his ultra libertarian "government shouldn't do anything" ideology, not some kind of genius level insight on foreign policy.

He doesn't want to intervene because it costs money to do so and expands government, not because that particular kind of global intervention is a negative. If children were starving in africa and needed food rand paul would say no for the same reason.

both pauls are joke tier ideologues that dont belong anywhere near elected office.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Thank god none of these people have a chance in hell of sniffing the white house. We'd be fucked.

 

[Ape]

here's the thing, depending on which polls you're looking at, Rubio has somewhere around 1/2 to 1/3 the support of Trump and Carson. Even if he takes ALL of Cruz and Bush's support he doesn't get anywhere close.

how does he take the nomination, with the race as it stands today

well, we are almost a year out. Carson and Trump just aren't savvy enough when it comes to politics, and that's going to catch up with them. There are moments in almost every debate where they seem to stay quite because they can't keep up.

 

[AmyS]

That can't be real, but if it is, holy shit, it'll be used on the internet over & over forever.

 

[Ryouji Gunblade]

How do you feel about simpler (but not necessarily flatter) tax reform GAF?

Is this a priority issue with you? I'd put it in the top 20.

 

[Manmademan]

well, we are almost a year out. Carson and Trump just aren't savvy enough when it comes to politics, and that's going to catch up with them. There are moments in almost every debate where they seem to stay quite because they can't keep up.

no we aren't. this is the primary, not the general.

 

[Ovid]

That can't be real, but if it is, holy shit, it'll be used on the internet over & over forever.

The man was a brain surgeon.

Do you honestly think he had time to play Battletoads or any video games?

 

[RetrospectiveLamb]

I thought Carson was particularly cringeworthy when he was comparing entrepreneurism to United States economy from 1776 to 1876, completely blossoming over the fact that the United States become an economic power because of slavery. Another funny moment was Trump caressing towards veterans, yet he publicly shamed McCain for being "captured."
I digged Kasich's aggressiveness, and I thought Rand/Rubio made a few good points, but I'm still very undecided so far for the 2016 election. I'm interested to see who will rise in the polls from this debate, hopefully it's not Trump/Carson.

 

[Ape]

no we aren't. this is the primary, not the general.

Doesn't it end it August?