Who Won The Republican Debate According To An Old Grumpy Mountain Man

Common Sense Commentary: Common Sense would stop me from taking a position on this, but I am still a bit dizzy from a party argument last night.

This is the morning after the second Republican debate and I'm still a little wobbly with a hangover, but I will give you "my opinion" of the results plus other subjective observations. I am dropping the 6 candidates who garnered the least number of votes in the NewsMax poll of viewers after the debate. That leaves 5 of the 11 on stage. I will first list those 5 in the order of the votes they got as of this minute. Voting is still going on and will change somewhat.  Where there was a tie of percentage, I list the one who got a few more votes than the other. After that listing, I will give my opinion of how each of the 5 rate on "Likeability", "Intelligence", "Integrity", Debating Ability", "Electability" and my "Personal Preference". You may disagree with my opinion  or be agitated by it or think I am biased or maybe just dumb, but it is my opinion ... not yours. Time may prove me wrong, but here it is:

1. NewsMax debate poll results
Trump - Fiorina - Rubio - Carson - Cruz
 (46%) - (20%)  -  (9%)  -   (9%)   - (6%)

2. Likability
Carson - Rubio - Fiorina - Cruz - Trump

3. Intelligence
Cruz - Fiorina - Rubio - Trump - Carson

4. Debating Ability
Fiorina - Cruz - Rubio - Trump - Carson

5. Integrity
Cruz - Carson - Rubio - Fiorina - Trump

6. Electability
Trump - Fiorina - Rubio - Carson - Cruz

7. My Personal Preference
Cruz - Carson - Rubio - Fiorina - Trump

The only way I would vote for Trump is against any Democrat.
He is winning because he is simply saying what I and disgusted Republicans want to hear. To his credit he is saying it more loudly than the other candidates. He has been all over the board on what he really believes and changes regularly.

Trump already has 31% of national polling results and 46% of those watching the debate which would be far more Republicans than Democrats. I think, however, that he would pull over a good number of Democrats since his temperament and narcissism (boasting and self-centered) is more like a Democrat than a Republican. Even with that, he would be better than any Democrat running. At least he is taking the right positions on most of the issues. whether he believes it or not.

Fiorina is extremely well spoken. intelligent and knowledgeable politically, on the issues. But her greatest advantages are as a terrific debater and she is a woman and would draw many women's votes away from Hillary or whoever the Democrat might be. Thank goodness she is not beautiful, but slender, almost attractive, sharp-witted and likable. In time, I think she would beat Hillary. She would wring Hillaries neck in the debates.

Carson is the nicest guy up there, has great integrity and is intelligent but his meekness would come across in a debate as weakness. He is good on social issues but not on political issues where he is just an average guy. He would draw maybe 20-25% of the black vote of the 95% of them who voted for Obama.

Rubio is another nice guy. His compassion for illegal aliens almost overwhelms his logic and reason concerning the "illegal" and costly nature of the immigration problems. He seems solid on most other issues, is highly intelligent, likable and a good debater. He also understands world affairs better than most.

Cruz has taken the strongest stand on Social issues, Terrorism, Immigration, Defending the Constitution and is a committed Christian. He has been a thorn in the side of the Republicans In Name Only (RINO's). He has led this Conservative rebellion for the longest time. However, even he cannot fix the problems in our country and if elected would be blamed when it collapses monetarily and otherwise.  Cruz is not handsome nor warm and fuzzy like Carson and Rubio, but he is, in my opinion, the best candidate.

I am in a dilemma. If there is any chance at all for our nation we must elect a strong, Conservative, Honest, Constitutionalist in 2016 to stop the hemorrhaging of all that is good about America. But, it is impossible to repair the moral, monetary, spiritual and political damage which has brought us to the precipice of disaster. Whoever is elected President or to the Congress next will bear the blame for the terminal mess other politicians have been creating for years. But the party that is in power when it crashes around us, will be blamed for many years into the future. I fear that will be Republicans and other Conservatives. Do nothing Republicans deserve it but Cruz, Rubio, Carson and Feorina do not. Even Trump doesn't deserve the blame for that. RB