Republican debate #4

Some quick impressions of the debate, which has just concluded:

   1.  Issues oriented (focus on the economy), with much better moderators who asked important questions, although there was not much follow-up challenges to misinformation.
   2.  Candidates did better about actually answering the questions, with some exceptions.   Now whether they were right about their facts is another matter.
   3.  Give Jeb Bush credit for a strong response on immigration reform.  He was better than in previous debates, but probably not good enough to reverse his low polls much.
   4.  Donald Trump was the loser.   He really flubbed up on the TPP trade deal, talking about how bad China is . . . blah. . . blah . . . China . . . blah.    Then Rand Paul jumped in and pointed out that China is not part of this trade deal.    He's right, of course.   Score for Paul.
   5.  Ted Cruz had a little bit of a Rick Perry "Oops" moment.  He started naming five government agencies that he would eliminate.    1.  The IRS.   2.  The Department of Commerce.  3.  The Department of Energy.    4. . . .  er . . . The Department of Commerce.  5.  HUD.  If anyone noticed that he repeated Commerce, it was not commented on.   He didn't help himself much elsewhere either.
   6.  Rubio had some strong moments, especially defending his tax plan that supports families.   He was probably the overall winner.
   7.  Carson did better than before, talking some more policy specifics;  seemed less flakey.

Ralph