Presidential Debate Nicknames

The Republican debate was sometimes fascinating, sometimes entertaining, sometimes harsh, and in the end, uninspiring. Here's my view of the winners and losers of the debate, with descriptive nicknames:

1. Carly "i carly" Fiorina -- biggest genuine applause line of the night was her response to Mr. Trump's attack on her appearance, which she deflected with a line about how women across the country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump had said. In that instant, she put her faith in the people, where it belongs, and I think she'll be rewarded for it. She did interject herself awkwardly into some debates. She also won the foreign policy debate at the beginning with specific answers and the closing question with two coherent images -- Lady Liberty and Lady Justice.

2. Rand "Mr. Marginalized" Paul -- he got into it with Mr. Trump at the very beginning and had cogent answers on marijuana that actually had people on stage thinking about what is needed to fix our criminal justice system. His foreign policy positions were a little vague -- he talked about engagement and was eloquent in arguing against the Iraq war, but he didn't say how he would fix the problems in the Middle East without boots on the ground.

3. Chris "straight shooter" Christie -- he came across as genuine and prepared, not overly aggressive but no doormat either. He did fade a little toward the end, but I liked his answer on the $10 bill -- Abigail Adams would be my choice, too. He also tried to relate to the people and the audience in the room, and succeeded in some ways.

4. Marco "True Believer Jr." Rubio -- long, coherent answers on foreign policy made him appear more Presidential. He also looked young and inexperienced in some cases.

5. Donald "Shiny Object" Trump -- Mr. Trump was center stage, and combatted all efforts to put him in the rear view mirror by reasserting himself. However, his statements got more and more incoherent as the debate wore on, and his flimsy ideas of "I will fix it" started to wear thin.

6. Jeb "the incredible shrinking candidate" Bush -- his answers on marijuana and defending his brother made him seem more real, but he consistently took positions that were more liberal than Mr. Trump's, which will not help him win the Republican primary.

7. Scott "testy" Walker -- a fairly forgettable performance

8. Mike "the Forgotten Man" Huckabee -- Mr. Huckabee failed to say much new; he seemed to be repeating claims from the previous election and refusing to engage in debate with his fellow Republicans for the most part.

9. John "Mr. Liberal" Kasich -- his positions on foreign policy spoke to the difficult decisions facing the next President, but his domestic policy positions were too liberal for me.

10. Ted "True Believer" Cruz -- every answer was conservative "red meat," but started sounding shrill and inflexible to me.

11. Ben "above it all" Carson -- avoided conflict whenever possible, didn't have the fire in the belly that the next President will need.