Nearly 24 hours later a couple of thoughts-upon-further-reflection concerning what did and did not happen in Simi last night. First, while some of the 7 onstage at the Reagan Library may have improved their position, nobody in any meaningful way challenged Trump's role as the absolute front-runner for the nomination. And it wasn't for lack of trying.
Absent a health catastrophe (at age 77 certainly possible), a felony conviction, or an unforeseeable black swan event like a plane crash, Trump will be the Republican nominee. Moreover, the people on that stage know this, and are competing to be next-in-line if he somehow falls.
Second, the amount of crosstalk and talking over other speakers made the proceedings in Simi difficult and unpleasant to listen to, and didn't improve my attitude toward those so engaged. I wasn't impressed with the moderators, Baier and McCallum did a better job on debate #1.
Varney and company force-fed questions to individuals in an almost gotcha fashion. They kept throwing out new ones without insisting debaters answer the previous one when they went off on tangents of their own choosing.
Writing at Red State, the pseudonymous Bonchie described the 'charm' of debate number two thusly:
The overall production hovered somewhere between a dumpster fire and testicle cancer.
Fox Business hasn't gotten many kudos for this effort.
