What Went Down At The ABC Republican Debate

Q: Is Harry Enten jumping back on the Christie bandwagon? — commenter James Prentiss A: I still think Christie has a tough road before Tuesday, but I’m not sure he could have imagined a better performance than he has delivered so far.

“New York values” and, to a slightly lesser degree, “New Jersey values” were put on full display early in this debate, when Trump and Christie did not back away from confrontation. Cruz, meanwhile, side-stepped going after Trump on stage the way he has through the media. Rubio tried to fight off Christie’s attacks but was overpowered. Both Trump and Christie — the two bullish personalities on the campaign trail — jumped on Cruz and Rubio’s weak moment and used it to put themselves head and shoulders above the field (at least for that moment). In fact, anytime Rubio spoke in the rehearsed manner that Christie accused him of, we were reminded of the governor’s words.