Thursday night’s debate made clear that the remaining non-Trump candidates—Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich—aren’t going to bother trying to tear down and defeat each other, at least not until they’ve dragged Donald Trump down a few pegs. It made for yet another Republican debate of astonishing ugliness, an embarrassment to a party that’s proven hard to embarrass in recent years. Donald Trump’s defense of his own penis made the headlines, of course, but here’s a small sampling of the other nonsense:
At one point, as Mr. Cruz tarred Mr. Trump for donating to Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 campaign, Mr. Trump tried repeatedly to interrupt.
“Count to 10, Donald — count to 10,” Mr. Cruz said. Later, in an exchange over Supreme Court nominations, Mr. Cruz taunted, “Breathe, breathe, breathe — you can do it.” That prompted Mr. Rubio to joke that his two rivals were primed for yoga, especially Mr. Trump. “He’s very flexible,” Mr. Rubio said, a quip referring to Mr. Trump’s changes in political positions. [...]
Calling him “little Marco” — a phrase he used several times — Mr. Trump noted that the senator was losing to him in Florida polls before the state’s March 15 primary.
“The people in Florida wouldn’t elect him dogcatcher,” Mr. Trump said.
The reviews haven't been kind:
Designed to define candidates’ differences, the debates have become tedious and repetitious rather than enlightening or illuminating. No new information was imparted, no truly new arguments advanced. Even the insults were tiresome.
But we did learn one important thing: Even though Marco Rubio thinks Donald Trump is a “con artist,” he will support Trump for president if Trump gets the Republican nomination. So will Ted Cruz and John Kasich—despite whatever they may say about Trump now.