That was a good debate, but it went too late and seemed never to end. Baseball games start around 7 pm for a reason. Also, I’m eager to see a network experiment with the format, even if it’s something as simple as having a formal round in which the candidates ask each other questions.
Marco Rubio showed once again that among Republicans, he may be the most gifted communicator of his generation. He currently occupies the sweet spot that WFB defined: most electable conservative. This is not to say that other conservatives can’t win in 2016, just that he’s the conservative who offers the best hope of GOP victory. I’m convinced that he is the candidate that the Democrats least want to face. His success or failure in the primaries will depend on many things, but perhaps nothing so much as whether enough primary voters give him a “get out of jail free” card on the “gang of eight” bill.