When Chris Wallace asked about his companies' bankruptcies, Trump inadvertently gave ammunition to the critics of corporate America. Expect Bernie Sanders to quote these lines:
Excuse me, what am I saying? Out of hundreds of deals that I've done, hundreds, on four occasions I've taken advantage of the laws of this country, like other people. I'm not going to name their names because I'm not going to embarrass, but virtually every person that you read about on the front page of the business sections, they've used the law.
The difference is, when somebody else uses those laws, nobody writes about it. When I use it, they say, "Trump, Trump, Trump." The fact is, I built a net worth of more than $10 billion. I have a great, great company. I employ thousands of people. And I'm very proud of the job I did.
Again Chris, hundreds and hundreds of deals. Four times, I've taken advantage of the laws. And frankly, so has everybody else in my position.
Marco Rubio helped himself the most. He was disappointed he didn’t get a foreign-policy question, where he was primed to shine. But he had several adult moments, including our fave: “[I]f this election is a resume competition, then Hillary Clinton’s gonna be the next president, because she’s been in office and in government longer than anybody else running here tonight. .. This election better be about the future, not the past. ... If I’m our nominee, we will be the party of the future.”
John Kasich and Carly Fiorina bask in pundit love. The Trump bubble will burst: His “F” answer to Megyn Kelly’s clever question put him on the wrong side of women.
Reporters thought Jeb was jittery, flat. His camp says the mission was to appear “presidential, aspirational. Conservative Record + Optimistic Vision. Took tough Qs that could’ve bogged down (Common Core, Trump) and instead hit his conservative record (that lots of people don’t know about) and an optimistic vision for how the country can grow economically.”
...
EXCLUSIVE – FRANK LUNTZ narrative from his dial-group results in Cleveland last night: “[W]e hosted 23 Republican voters, 20 of whom were undecided ... Being Donald Trump made him the front-runner, but tonight his act wore thin. He lowered the level of political discourse, and participants were really disappointed. The theme from our session: Dump Trump. ... Bush ... finished at the back of the pack in almost every question we asked. ... His dial scores were flat, and participants felt he lacked the passion they want ...
“Who showed they are best prepared to be president on day one? Ted Cruz ... scored well ... because of ... intelligence and courage. ... Which candidate would you choose to have a beer with? Marco Rubio ... [W]omen ... universally found him ‘attractive.’ ... Was there a candidate you would want to teach your kids’ junior high civics class? Ted Cruz. ... Which candidate would you hire to run your company? Donald Trump. ... Who was in the minors, but earned a call to the majors? Carly Fiorina.” Frank’s 2-pager http://bit.ly/1Usof5d
