CNN Debate: Rand Paul Is Big Loser; But Lots of Winners

Sen. Rand Paul
Screedshot: CNN GOP Debate

by Herman Cain: The morning after.

Three hours is a long debate. I can remember being exhausted after standing for debates that lasted two hours. And that doesn't even take into account the post-interviews, getting up in the morning to do TV appearances and so forth.

But 11 candidates endured it last night, and they all deserve credit for that.

Now here is my snap analysis: I think that of those on stage, there were 10 winners in the sense that they either helped themselves or held serve. There was one loser, and I'll start with him. The one loser on stage was Rand Paul.

His whole strategy was, is and continues to be to try to label Donald Trump as not a conservative. Jeb Bush did it a little in the run-up to the debate, but he backed off during the debate. Rand Paul's numbers barely register 2 percent, and the first reason for that is that trying to label Donald Trump is not working. Yet it's all he keeps trying to do. If that's his entire approach to defining himself, it's not going to work.

The second reason I believe his numbers will not go up is that he does not come across as very strong in his thinking and how he deals with the issues. Rand Paul still carries the image around of "audit the fed, audit the fed," just like his dad. I know he's a "constitutionalist" (at least according to him), but Main Street America wants to know what he's going to do about jobs, taxes, etc. He is not taking bold stands on those issues. That's why he's the loser.

The best performers were:

Carly Fiorina, clearly. She was forceful, articulate and knowledgeable every time she spoke. She was also confident and assertive. She had done her homework on everything from Russia to Planned Parenthood, and her comment on the latter cut so effectively to the heart of the matter, you had to stand and cheer even as you realized your frustration that people like Mitch McConnell won't do the same.

Marco Rubio, who was consistently strong and effective in his answers and really projected a vision for what the country needs and how he would lead.

Chris Christie, who consistently diverted the conversation back to things the voters care about - things that are relevant to the real needs of real people.

All the candidates did a good job of pivoting to relevant matters as CNN tried its best to pit them against each other. The constant attempts to create one-on-one conflict were an obvious ratings play - nothing beats the viral video that's everywhere on social media with the CNN logo in the corner - but the candidates for the most part didn't take the bait.

I also thought, in general terms, last night was a good night for the Republican Party because it showed the depth of the GOP bench. Almost everyone on that stage had real strengths that could be brought to the presidency. In fact, one important imperative for whoever wins the nomination would be to put plenty of the others on that stage last night in their administration. It would be a terrible waste to staff an administration with a bunch of the usual political cronies when there is so much talent right there in front of you.

Finally, I thought the public won last night because it got to see a lot of strong talent making serious points about the challenge we face, and the solutions we need. With the exception of Rand Paul, we all need more nights like this.
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Herman Cain is a conservative radio host of CainTV, a 2012 GOP presidential primary candidate with over 40 years of experience in the private sector as an analyst for Coca-Cola, an executive at Pillsbury, a regional Vice President for Burger King, and CEO of Godfather's Pizza. Cain served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and a supervisory mathematician for the Dept. of the Navy.

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