If you watched Fox News or CNN, Marco Rubio won the debate.  All of the main stream media wants us to believe that Rubio won the debate.  They are all terrified that Ted Cruz might be the next President of the United.  He terrified Republicans, because he does not play the game and because they really believe a strong conservative will lose in the general election.  The Republican establishment, much like liberals, believes a lot of things that are not true.  They really believe that they need a charming RINO to win election.  They definitely believe that Ted Cruz will lead them to disaster.  Plus, they hate him.

At first I had trouble figuring out who was most effective.  It was obvious that this was a Cruz – Rubio debate.  No one else mattered.  Rubio did have his good moments.  He is a very charming guy and the moderators gave the chance to glow in the spotlight..  But then it dawned on me.  The truly great performer is the one who can silence the crowd.  There is an old story about when Elvis performed in a singing contest, before anyone knew him.  He started singing and the crowd went completely silent.  They didn’t even clap when he was done.  He thought he had done poorly.  Instead, he had shocked them into silence.  Last night Ted Cruz silenced the audience.  He silenced the moderators who literally stopped asking him questions.  He silenced the other candidates.  No one even mentioned him during the last few minutes of the debate.  I believe the reason was that he stunned them with how eloquently and effectively he presented his position.  Now the real question is how the TV audience and more importantly, how the voters in Iowa responded.  If they saw what I saw, Ted Cruz will win Iowa big time.  If they didn’t, then Rubio will surge past him in the polls and Donald Trump will be the nominee.

TDM