Big Loser in GOP Debate? The Media. CNBC's Moderators Were an Embarrassment to Journalism

They would never ask such sneering questions of Hillary Clinton!

What a farce! In a report prior to Wednesday's GOP debate in Colorado it was suggested that CNBC  would bring "gravitas" to the proceedings and focus on the economic issues Americans care about. Instead it was embarrassing. Just to show how confused CNBC was going into the debate another report had Carl Quintanilla one of the CNBC moderators describing how they sought to get "big fireworks." In that they succeeded. But at the expense of substance.

Here's a sampling of some of the gotcha questions that were asked. Note the number of times the crowd groans in disapproval and even boos:

Texas Senator Ted Cruz summed up the feelings of the audience and many on the stage with this response to CNBC's shenanigans:

CRUZ: “The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media.

This is not a cage match. And if you look at the questions—Donald Trump, are you a comic book villain? Ben Carson, can you do math? John Kasich, will you insult two people over here? Marco Rubio, why don’t you resign? Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen? How about talking about the substantive issues people care about?”

NJ Governor Chris Christy got in the act too: “Wait a second. We have $19 trillion in debt. We have people out of work. We have ISIS and al-Qaida attacking us, and we’re talking about fantasy football?!”

Then there was this from Florida Senator Marco Rubio:

RUBIO: OK. I know the Democrats have the ultimate SuperPac. It’s called the mainstream media ... Last week, Hillary Clinton went before a committee. She admitted she had sent e-mails to her family saying, “Hey, this attack at Benghazi was caused by Al Qaida-like elements.” She spent over a week telling the families of those victims and the American people that it was because of a video. And yet the mainstream media is going around saying it was the greatest week in Hillary Clinton’s campaign. It was the week she got exposed as a liar. It was the week that she got exposed as a liar…
But she has her super PAC helping her out, the American mainstream media.

Winners: Rubio, Cruz, Christie?

Trump finally let some other candidates have more speaking time. That's a first!

Marco Rubio continues to perform well in debates and may be prepared for a breakout in the polls following his excellent performance tonight. Likewise with Ted Cruz. Chris Christie deserves a mention because he may have saved himself from being lost in the back of the pack.

It was a bad night for former Florida Governor Jeb Bush whose campaign has been struggling recently. His answers are somewhat technical and he really doesn't seem to be enjoying himself. Jeb has the money to stay the distance after reigning in campaign spending so he won't be going anywhere soon.

As for the others, they all had good moments. But for back of the pack candidates like Ohio Governor John Kaisch, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul their campaigns need a breakout moment. Tonight wasn't it.

Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina needs to turn around sagging poll numbers. She spoke the most during the debate. Will that help? And Developer Donald Trump seemed to behave himself more tonight. Is this a new more serious side of Trump? Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Ratings 9 million fewer than previous debates. That's down in the same territory as the Dem debate. No wonder, it was on a Dem station!