Who Won Saturday's Republican Presidential Debate? Top 5 Moments

MANCHESTER, NH - While billionaire businessman Donald Trump is holding onto a solid lead in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary in the latest polling, the battle in New Hampshire appears to be for second, third, and possibly fourth, and that was clear during the last GOP debate at St. Anselm College on Feb. 6, 2016, before voters go to the polls.

After a stumble with introductions of the seven candidates by ABC News, former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-NJ, Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Chris Christie, R-NJ, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. John Kasich, R-OH, U.S. Rep. Marco Rubio, R-FL, and Trump, started slugging at each other right out of the gate on topics ranging from dirty tricks in Iowa to taking care of snowstorms to North Korea launching an intercontinental ballistic missile test earlier this evening and the Zika virus.

Temperament, tricks

In last week’s debate between Democrats, electability was a key discussion point in the debate. Tonight, it was temperament, specifically competitors attacking Trump for his tirades on Twitter, including Cruz, who has said in the past that he didn’t think the businessman could be trusted with the nuclear button.

However, when asked to follow-up on the criticism, Cruz dodged the question, noting that voters were looking to find judgment and knowledge from their leaders. Trump countered that while he respected what Cruz said, he didn’t answer the question and people were relying on him to get the job done and be tough with enemies.

“It’s OK,” he said of Cruz not answering. “(But) that’s what’s going to happen with our enemies and the people we compete against.”

The moderators – David Muir and Martha Raddatz – then turned to Carson and asked about the dirty tricks recently pulled by the Cruz campaign specifically, utilizing a media report that Carson wasn’t going to New Hampshire but home to get new clothing, to attempt to shift votes to Cruz at the Iowa Caucuses. Carson said he would use Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment – “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican” – and not “savage the reputation” of Cruz but did criticize his campaign for its actions. As he has done before, Cruz again apologized to Carson for what the campaign did.

Christie wins bloodbath with Marco

One of the most brutal exchanges between the candidates occurred after Bush was asked about Rubio’s inexperience after promoting him as a potential vice presidential candidate for former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-MA, in 2012. Bush called Rubio a gifted politician but pointed to his “steady hand” in a number of emergencies including hurricanes and disasters in Florida.

But after Rubio countered, Christie pounced, looking right at the camera, like he had done in previous debates. He told the viewers that the exchange was an example of everything that was wrong with Senators who use soundbites that don’t solve anything. The fact that Rubio had never had to lead or fix problems, like emergencies, as Bush had mentioned, showed he didn’t have enough experience, Christie stated.

Rubio tried to counter by saying that when a snowstorm hit New Jersey, Christie couldn’t wait to leave the state to get back to New Hampshire to campaign, and even snapped at a young woman about buying a mop.

Christie lashed back hitting Rubio again with the memorized points, while looking at the camera.

“That’s what Washington, D.C., does,” he said. “The drive-by shot at the beginning, with incorrect and incomplete information, and then the memorized, 25-second speech.”

Rubio became a mix of shellshock and nervous smiling after the exchange.

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Bomb North Korea?

The news that North Korea had launched a long-range missile broke in the middle of the debate and immediately became a question with the moderators pressing the candidates as to whether or not there should be a preemptive strike against the terrorist nation.

Cruz avoided the question, and wouldn’t say exactly he would do because he didn’t have enough intelligence about the matter. Raddatz countered that he had been suggesting that the Islamic State should be bombed and he didn’t have intelligence on the matter. Cruz stated the contrary; he had numerous briefings about the situation in the Middle East but not the latest launch by North Korea.

Trump said he would pressure China to act since China controlled nearly everything that North Korean was doing.

Rubio agreed with Trump and then added that the government had the ability to take out any threat by North Korea to the United States, its allies, and interests.

Bush said stronger sanctions should be implemented while Christie said he would boost the nation’s profile on the global stage.

Eminent domain

Trump came under attack – as he has had for most of the cycle – for previously supporting eminent domain. Bush criticized Trump for trying to take an old woman’s property for a casino in Atlantic City. Trump shook his head saying Bush was trying to be “a tough guy” and even told him to “be quiet,” while Bush stated it was wrong and not a public purpose. Trump countered that eminent domain was great for the country and highways, bridges, and schools wouldn’t be built without it.

Trump added, “The Keystone pipeline without eminent domain wouldn’t go 10 feet, OK,” he said. “You need eminent domain, and eminent domain is a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Bush replied that Keystone was a public interest but a parking lot for limousines at a casino was not.

Keystone, of course, isn’t a public interest – it’s a private foreign interest, owned by TransCanada.

Interestingly, Google, a partner in the debate, saw a spike of 740 percent in search on the term “eminent domain” during the exchange.

Did the debate influence the race?

At this late in the campaign, it’s hard to say how much movement will be made with voters at this stage.

Trump has a solid lead in all the polling and has for months and months. But a third of those polled who say they will be taking a Republican ballot could change their mind, according to the data.

While Rubio was ascending after his third place finish in Iowa, he had a difficult night, was constantly repeating himself, and was pummeled by Christie in the exchange about Washington-speak. But with three governors in the race – Bush, Christie, and Kasich – putting all their eggs in the basket of New Hampshire, a poor debate performance by Rubio might not hurt him.

All the governors delivered solid debate performances with Christie really shining, especially during his compassionate answers about the importance of rape victims having access to abortions if they wanted them and tackling the heroin crisis as a sickness.

Carson seemed lost in the debate and even joked that he wasn’t there “just to add beauty to the stage,” and neither Trump nor Cruz helped or hurt their campaigns.

Despite tens of thousands of people signing petitions for her to be included, including some of the candidates themselves, Carly Fiorina was not allowed to be on the debate stage due to not qualifying by running in the top three in Iowa or the top six in national and New Hampshire polls. However, she was seen by viewers – her political ads aired during every commercial break during the debate.