The main debate did not have as clear a winner as the earlier, undercard debate, but it appears Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came out about as well as anyone else.
Rubio’s responses were well-reasoned and pointed, he also had some of the best lines of the night. His comment about Hillary Clinton not being able to lecture him about living paycheck-to-paycheck when that’s how he was raised was poignant and allowed him to remind the audience of his compelling life story.
His comments about immigration included simple facts about the nature of who is coming to this country and the reality of the current visa program.
“Let me tell you who never gets talked about in these debates. The people who call my office, waiting 15 years to come to the United States. They’ve paid their fees, hired a lawyer and they’re wondering if they should’ve come in illegally,” Rubio said. “It’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed otherwise we’re going to keep talking about this for the next 30 years like we have for the last 30 years.”
He also gave an explanation for his opposition to Common Core education standards that could apply to any number of government issues.
“The Department of Education, like every federal agency, will never be satisfied,” Rubio said. “They will not stop with it being a suggestion. They will turn it into a mandate. What they will begin to say to local communities is ‘you will not get federal money unless do you thing way we want you to do it.’ And they will use common core or any other requirements to force it down the throats of the people in our states.”
One of Rubio’s most memorable lines came during his discussion of abortion.
“I think future generations of this country will look back at this history of our country and call us barbarians for murdering millions of babies, who we never gave them [sic] a chance to live,” Rubio said.
His closing statement, suggesting the GOP had been “blessed” with “some very good candidates” while “the Democrats can’t even find one,” cemented his position as the debate’s winner.
Overall, 10 candidates on the stage was too many, as it was easy to forget who was up there in between questions. At one point, Dr. Ben Carson – who was one of the weakest performers – commented that he didn’t think he was going to get another chance to talk.
Beyond the bombastic rants of Donald Trump and brief exchange between New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Rubio was the debate standout. He showed that he could hold his own in a large field without resorting to sniping. He looked like the adult in the room.
Rubio wasn’t the runaway favorite of the debate, however. Arguments can be made that he was on par with several other candidates or that someone else was the standout.
And for that, Rubio won’t gain as much attention or poll points as former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who by many accounts wiped the floor with the other candidates in the earlier debate.
