Marco Rubio clearly won the Thursday night debate, through mocking, dismantling, and refuting Donald Trump. Ted Cruz also effectively attacked Trump, especially pointing out Trump’s weaknesses against Hillary Clinton.
But here’s the thing: it may not ultimately matter, for two reasons. First, Trump wins some points with many voters simply by being more bull-headed, loud, rude and indecent than the other candidates. This is a major part of his appeal. Second, Trump’s lead in many Super Tuesday polls is huge. Even if he loses 10 points in some states, he’ll still win, especially if those 10 points are split among Rubio and Cruz.
For that reason, Trump stays at Number One in our Power Rankings.
Timothy P. Carney, the Washington Examiner’s senior political columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears Tuesday and Thursday nights on washingtonexaminer.com.
