What Went Down At The ABC Republican Debate

Marco Rubio, in response to a question about younger voters and social issues, brought up an interesting point: that the Democratic debates have, thus far, not really mentioned the abortion issue. It’s perhaps because Sanders has heightened the debate over economic issues so much in that race.

I’m a bit more equivocal. In the long run, Trump has to prove that he doesn’t have a low ceiling on his support. Getting 30 percent would be better than the 24 percent he got in Iowa, but it’s still in Pat Buchanan range. (In 1996, Buchanan got 23 percent in Iowa, then won New Hampshire with 26 percent of the vote.) The important way it would be helpful for Trump is that a strong showing for Kasich and Bush could keep them in the race longer and prevent party elites from consolidating around Marco Rubio.