September 22, 2018      1:39 PM

HK: In the hand to hand combat of their first debate Ted dominated Beto

Not a knockout by any stretch but Cruz laid out a potentially effective campaign playbook; any illusions O’Rourke may have had about his opponent are gone

Last night’s debate between Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Beto O’Rourke confirmed for each side’s true believers the superiority of their candidate. Cruz confirmed his unflinchingly partisan and conservative credentials with a litany of administration accomplishments while jamming half-true accusations in an almost staccato style to O’Rourke. 

With few exceptions, O’Rourke stayed on his message of hope, optimism and unifying the country but in the context of the engagement and for those just learning about the candidates, Cruz controlled the debate.

The biggest takeaway of the night was that while Cruz missed no opportunity to try and define his opponent, O’Rourke’s attempt at sustaining an upbeat message missed opportunity after opportunity to call the incumbent to account for his record.

By Harvey Kronberg

Copyright September 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved