CLEVELAND, OH (FOX NEWS) – The only thing wider than the Republican field Friday morning was the range of pundit scorecards over who won the kick-off presidential debates.
In fact, the only thing the analysts seemed to agree on was that former HP exec Carly Fiorina dominated the early, 5 p.m. showdown. Her performance lit up social media, and in the run-up to the second debate she was even out-trending Donald Trump on Twitter.
But after that, there was little consensus about who emerged from the prime-time debate glowing.
Mark Meckler, president of Citizens for Self-Governance, declared front-runner Trump, “the man with the most to lose, lost the most.”
But others said he dominated by staying true to his hard-hitting, no apologies style. The Hill’s Niall Stanage tagged him one of the debate winners, saying he showed “all the flamboyance that has propelled him to the top of the Republican field.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio earned plaudits. But so did Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and others.
If anything, the range of opinions shows the field is as wide open as ever. The opening debates gave even lesser-known candidates a chance to shine and yielded no “oops”-style moments to doom anyone’s campaign.
“I think everyone had their moment,” Fiorina told Fox News on Friday. “This debate was the start, not the end.”
To read the full story on Fox News’ website, click here.
In fact, the only thing the analysts seemed to agree on was that former HP exec Carly Fiorina dominated the early, 5 p.m. showdown. Her performance lit up social media, and in the run-up to the second debate she was even out-trending Donald Trump on Twitter.
But after that, there was little consensus about who emerged from the prime-time debate glowing.
Mark Meckler, president of Citizens for Self-Governance, declared front-runner Trump, “the man with the most to lose, lost the most.”
But others said he dominated by staying true to his hard-hitting, no apologies style. The Hill’s Niall Stanage tagged him one of the debate winners, saying he showed “all the flamboyance that has propelled him to the top of the Republican field.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio earned plaudits. But so did Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and others.
If anything, the range of opinions shows the field is as wide open as ever. The opening debates gave even lesser-known candidates a chance to shine and yielded no “oops”-style moments to doom anyone’s campaign.
“I think everyone had their moment,” Fiorina told Fox News on Friday. “This debate was the start, not the end.”
To read the full story on Fox News’ website, click here.
