2). Marco Rubio- Rubio knows how to talk to the evangelical voting bloc in the Republican Party. Rubio knows how to get off a good one-liner. Rubio had a great debate because Donald Trump wasn’t there. Sen. Rubio did nothing to show that he is the same class as Cruz and Trump, but there is a reason he was a target of both Bush and Cruz. Rubio is the candidate that other campaigns view as the biggest threat to capture establishment Republican voters. Sen. Rubio does a lot of things well, but lacks charisma and would struggle mightily in a general election. Rubio isn’t exciting, and in a year where excitement is winning the Republican primary, it is easy to see why Rubio is the third or fourth choice of many Republicans.
3). Jeb Bush- It’s alive! Without Donald Trump to get under his skin and unnerve him, Bush had a good debate. The brother of W. is more comfortable talking about policy than trading barbs and insults. Jeb had a good debate by his standards. He wasn’t comatose. He discussed the issues with clarity and confidence that was lacking in previous debates. Bush had his best debate, but it is probably too little too late for a campaign that experts believe is dead in the water.
