WRAP-UP – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Who won last night?  We haven't gotten serious polls last night, so it's all speculation.  The feeling among most commentators is that Donald Trump hurt himself, and that Marco Rubio had a good night.

But there's one name that does stand out.  I admit to being biased, but the fact is that Carly Fiorina made a strong impression across the board.  Her name lit up social media.  She was on the morning shows.  She's gotten more publicity from last night than she's gotten from the entire campaign thus far.  From the Washington Examiner: 

CLEVELAND -- About an hour into the primetime debate of the top 10 candidates in the Republican presidential race, the conservative actor Nick Searcy tweeted, "I'm afraid @CarlyFiorina is winning the second debate too."

He was on to something. Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, shone earlier in the evening, when seven GOP candidates who didn't make the cut for the primetime session gathered for the night's first faceoff. For about an hour after that debate, the big story was Fiorina winning what was sometimes called the undercard session.

That news was not going to last long, because then came a primetime debate that was hugely entertaining but at times seemed in danger of veering off the rails with loopy and sometimes embarrassing answers from Donald Trump. A few of the candidates, like John Kasich, did well, but only Marco Rubio turned in a truly standout performance.

It was hard to declare a clear winner of the primetime debate. Combine the two sessions into one, however, and Fiorina emerged as the likely winner of the entire evening.

Fiorina has impressed crowds in Iowa, New Hampshire, and other key states. Wherever she speaks, audience members who've never seen her before express almost uniformly positive reactions. Those friendly receptions, however, have not translated into rising national poll numbers; hence Fiorina's appearance at the early, rather than the primetime, debate.

When the debate structure was first announced, Fiorina confidently predicted she would qualify for the primetime session. It didn't work out that way. So she made the best of the opportunity she had. She gave a biting commentary on Donald Trump. (She did it when asked, not volunteering.) A solid answer on cyber-security. A good, if oft-repeated, answer on Iran. A compelling explanation of her own conservatism. And in her final statement, a concise statement of her main focus, which is her pledge to fight Hillary Clinton every day of every week of every month in the coming campaign.

COMMENT:  A Rubio-Fiorina ticket?  Winning combination, but I don't know if the Republicans will get there.

This debate will be forgotten quickly.  We'll look to see the field narrowing, as it's much too unwieldy right now.  The next Republican debate will be September 16th at the Reagan Library in California. 

August 7,  2015