DEBATE SURPRISES AND SHAME

By and large, the debates were informative, but sometimes disappointing and sometimes shameful.  

In the first debate, Carly Fiorina did distinguish herself with strong and articulate answers; it became readily obvious that she belonged in the first tier of debaters and there were several in the second debate who did not step up to the plate and should have been in Carly's spot.  In my opinion and based upon the debates, three were less-than-stellar and may as well drop out now... Gilmore, Graham, Pataki, Perry and Santorum.  

I think the second debate got off to a very bad, disgusting start.  When Fox asked the first question, it was clear to me that a very poorly crafted and antagonistic trap had been set up against Trump.  The question was if there was anyone on stage who could not pledge support for the eventual nominee and who would pledge not to run on a third party ticket. Trump had already articulated his position on that issue several times in the media and it was therefore clear that the question was designed to specifically shame him in front of the national debate audience. It was a heavily baited question and served no purpose other than to deliberately denigrate one of the candidates...  Trump.  I saw no such attack by Fox on any other of the candidates. 

To be fair, Trump flunked a question about his vocal disdain for women on prior occasions.  I felt that Paul made a poor showing and that Bush had a lackluster performance.  Those who shined in the second debate and who stood out were Carson, Huckabee and Cruz.  I felt that Christie was the barracuda of the event and probably should have stayed home.   

Everyone else had their moments, both good and bad.  There was a whole lot of ducking, bobbing, weaving and spinning going on.  The most poised of the groups would be a tossup I think between Bush and Fiorina, but I'm not looking for poise... I'm looking for someone who demonstrates the ability and fortitude to tackle the daunting task of turning this country around.  In that respect, based on the debate, I would put Cruz, Fiorina, Huckabee, Trump... and possibly Rubio and Carson.  

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.