Cleveland — Here’s how some of the campaigns were spinning the performances of their candidates in the spin room after the debate.
Scott Walker: Distinguished himself by focusing his fire on Hillary Clinton. Senior adviser Robert O’Brien says Walker’s interjection about Hillary Clinton’s shoddy record as secretary of state — he actually talked over moderator Bret Baier to get his word in — was the “turning point of the debate.” It prodded the moderators, he says, “to get away from the tit-for-tat with the other candidates.”
John Kasich: Showed himself to be somebody who has “actually implemented conservative principles and includes everyone,” says senior adviser John Weaver. Kasich’s response on gay marriage, Weaver says, was “the sort of answer you hear around dinner tables all across America.” As for Trump, well, there’s a lot of anger about big government, and he was smart to “see a parade going down the street and get in front of it.”
Chris Christie: Showed his leadership tangling with Rand Paul on foreign policy and Mike Huckabee on entitlements. “He was in command of the facts and figures,” says Mike DuHaime, the governor’s senior strategist.
Jeb Bush: Looked and sounded presidential. “I really think the governor showed himself to be presidential. First off, he looked like a president, and I think somebody that the Republican party’s gonna start to look at and say, ‘Yeah, he’s gonna be our standard bearer,’” says Representative Adam Kinzinger (R., Ill.), a Bush supporter.
Rand Paul: Came out ahead “for defending the Bill of Rights and pointing out that you can fight terrorism while keeping people’s civil liberties by simply getting a warrant” says senior adviser Doug Stafford.
— Eliana Johnson is Washington editor of National Review. Alexis Levinson is a senior political correspondent for National Review.