The CNBC debate was a debacle. Leftist Democrat moderators tried desperately to make conservative ideas look as unpalatable as possible. Insults were phrased as questions, and substantive answers were constantly interrupted. But several of the debaters shined, in teeth of blatant media bias. The only questions that were not biased were those from Jim Kramer and Rick Santelli.

The best clip goes to Ted Cruz:

Transcript:

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 the math? John Kasich, can 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 —

CNBC: Does this count? Do we get credit for this one?

CRUZ: And Carl, I’m not finished yet. The contrast with the Democratic debate, where every fawning question from the media was, which of you is more handsome and wise?

CNBC: Let me say, you have 30 seconds left to answer should you choose to do so.

CRUZ: Let me be clear. The men and women on this stage have more ideas, more experience, more common sense, than every participant in the Democratic debate. That debate reflected a debate between the Bolsheviks and the Menchavicks. Nobody watching at home believes that any of the moderators have any intention of voting in a Republican primary. The questions being asked shouldn’t be trying to get people to tear into each other, it should be what are your substantive solutions —

CNBC: I asked you about the debt limit and got no answer.

As expected, the ever-agile Marco Rubio outperformed.

Marco Rubio answering a puerile question from one of the CNBC Democrat stooges:

Marco Rubio taking on media for being in the pocketsof the Democrat Party:

Carly Fiorina on big government and socialism:

Ben Carson on his flat tax plan:

Ted Cruz on the need to audit the Federal Reserve:

Marco Rubio on balancing skilled immigration with training up the next generation of American workers, including vocational education in trades:

Ben Carson answers a question on gay rights and political correctness:

So many good Republican candidates, it’s hard to choose. I’m still liking Cruz and Rubio from this first-tier debate.

The Undercard / Second-Tier debate

I also watched the undercard debate, and Bobby Jindal won that one by a mile.

Here is his best clip, answering another biased question:

Jindal talks about his “everyone should pay something” tax plan:

Jindal was asked “Should for-profit schools be held accountable when they take taxpayer money and leave students deep in debt?” and he talked about his school choice policies in Louisiana, consumer-centered policies that promote choice and competition among education providers:

We always get a great post-debate podcast from the experts at The Weekly Standard. They agree with me that Cruz and Rubio won the debate. And they also think that CNBC lost the debate! Indeed. It’s indubitable.

Also, see this late-breaking post at from the Weekly Standard’s Jonathan Last. Last says that we are down to six candidates: “Trump, Carson, Rubio, Cruz, and maybe—just maybe—Fiorina and Christie”.