10:15p
The top-6 candidates, roughly, were the ones who saw the most success tonight. Possibly with exception to Jeb Bush. However, Bush was hurt most by his exchange early in the night with Rubio. That did really turn out to be the most-heated moment of the evening — excluding points where candidates or the crowd grew annoyed with the fact that the moderators were not doing a great job of keeping things organized or under control.
10:11p
Apparently Hillary Clinton has been “live texting” the GOP debate.
10:06p
“We’re going to make a really dynamic economy from what we have right now.” Donald Trump on how he plans to resolve issues with social security and medicare without actually cutting them, or taxing.
10:05p
Gov. Mike Huckabee says that it’s time to eradicate diseases like cancer, heart disease, and the other big ones on this front. It’s a great idea — but it’s contingent on finding a solution, and if a solution isn’t found — then it would be nullified.
10:01p
“If you’re not serious about raising the age, you’re not serious about fixing either.” -Sen. Rand Paul on fixing Medicare and Social Security.
9:56p
Gov. Chris Christie says that investing in all types of energy is crucial. Whether it’s solar, natural gas, wind, or anything else, Americans shouldn’t be letting the government fix global warming.
9:54p
Gov. John Kasich is selling a message to colleges and college students, which would completely change the way higher education happens. He says colleges should not be in the business of parking, housing, food, or anything else other than education.
Gov. Jeb Bush went along with this as well and pointed out that he had the lowest in-state tuition costs in his home state.
9:52p
Carly Fiorina says that she will go to bat for small businesses, and has used the word “crushed” to describe how many in the middle class, and small business owners feel.
9:45p
Gov. Chris Christie taking a direct shot at Pres. Obama over his lack-of-support for police officers. Gov. Mike Huckabee completely deflected a question aimed at starting a fight between he and Donald Trump — which saw a good ovation from the crowd and candidates.
9:40p
Gov. John Kasich said point blank that he does not support sending “mixed signals” to our kids about drugs of any kind. It sounds like he would not legalize marijuana to capture that revenue stream.
9:35p
If you’re a family of four and you make $40,000 a year, then you pay no taxes, according to Gov. Jeb Bush. Talking about tax plans in short snippets is generally bad because it’s impossible to properly explain an entire tax plan in 30 seconds. That makes a lot of the other conversation that is happening at this point, is worthless.
9:33p
Gov. Huckabee just compared the military blimp going down in Pennsylvania today to our government’s function over the last several years. Ouch.
9:24p
Donald Trump just denied that an article was published with him calling out Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. However, CNN Money reported just that over the summer.
9:18p
Just an update for those who might have thought that the moderators were getting better as the debate continued: They are not, and there’s still a lot more of this to go.
9:16p
“I believe our constitution protects everyone. I also believe marriage is between one man and one woman.” -Dr. Ben Carson
9:15p
“The struggle of single moms is extraordinary.” Sen. Ted Cruz points to the number of single mothers in his family. Pointing out that his mom, sister, and others were “single mothers.” Although, he was raised with a father after he was “born again.”
9:13p
You won’t see other GOP candidates call out Sen. Rubio for his “mismanagement of his personal finances,” because he has a net worth of just $100,000. Compare that to the competition within the GOP field and he is one of the only non-millionaires.
9:01p
“The middle class has $2,300 less in their pockets than the day Pres. Obama was elected.” Claim made by Gov. Jeb Bush regarding the state of our economy, and then made an awkward statement about giving a Democrat a “warm kiss.” Most of that answer was a miss.
8:56p
The first break of the GOP debate on CNBC and it’s hard to tell at this point who is leading. Rubio, Cruz, Fiorina and Christie have all had substantive comments with good receptions thus far. Bush lost some more ground, and it would appear as though Trump and Carson are acting like front runners so far.
8:54p
Gov. Mike Huckabee is making up for his lack of face time by making a bizarre comparison of a large man, a sack of donuts, and social security. I’m not even sure PolitiFact could have circled back on that one.
8:52p
“The government has lied to you, and the government has stolen from you.” -Gov. Chris Christie’s grim outlook of social safety nets that exist around the U.S. right now.
8:49p
Sen. Ted Cruz just defended every candidate on stage, and is now getting into a shouting match with the moderators. That exchange likely helped his overall stock though. He pointed out that he doesn’t believe any of the moderators will vote in a “single Republican Primary.” Probably the most-accurate statement of the night thus far.
Carly Fiorina just made a phenomenal point about politicians being held to the same criminal standard of liability as CEO’s are to their companies when they report earnings.
8:38p
Sen. Marco Rubio and Gov. Jeb Bush just got into the most heated debate of the night thus far. However, the debate continues to be overshadowed at this point by shoddy moderation.
8:33p
“His poll numbers tanked, that’s why he’s at the end.” Donald Trump, speaking of John Kasich and his fact-checked success in Ohio with state debt.
8:30p
Ben Carson is being raked over the coals on his tithing tax plan. Gov. John Kasich is going rogue over the “fantasy” that he says has become the Republican Party and politics in general. However, his track record is accurate. He moved Ohio from an $8 million deficit to a $2 million surplus.
8:20p
The first question was answered by approximately 50% of the candidates. Those who answered it most effectively were the individuals in the top-4. Carly Fiorina made a statement about stagnant job growth that was proven to be mostly false, according to Politifact and was used almost verbatim in 2014 by Herman Cain.
8:09p
The debate hasn’t officially begun, but we will be covering the debate live throughout the rest of the evening, with some of the best and worst of the evening. Stay tuned!
Presidential Debate 2015: GOP Live Updates, Tweets & Highlights
