Good news, Republicans! Preliminary estimates put the number of viewers of the Republican "debate" last night at somewhere around 15 million, meaning your candidates' bold messages about the relative size of their genitalia and their declarations that Donald Trump is an ignorant, reckless, dangerous con man who they will nevertheless support for the presidency if it comes right down to that was one of the most-watched debates ever.
Though Thursday's debate is unlikely to reach the record-shattering numbers of the first Fox News debate last year, which brought in around 24 million viewers, it will likely be one of the top four highest rated debates of this cycle, and one of the most watched primary debates of all time.
And what wasn't there to like? There was yelling, and schoolyard taunts, and moderators who had specifically tasked their network's graphics department with coming up with visual aids for taking Trump down. Granted, it was a wreck if you were looking for bits of actual policy or just wanted to assure yourself that there was someone up on that stage who wouldn't burn the nation to the ground exactly ten minutes after taking the oath of office, but if you're just looking for a Dancing with the Stars rip-off with more frequent knife fights, that's something the Republican Party has now proven it can deliver.