What were the best lines of the first 2015 GOP debate?
There were plenty of fireworks in the first primetime debate of the 2016 Republican primary season, hosted Thursday in Cleveland by Fox News.
The 10 candidates onstage attacked each other, the Democrats, the news media, and the elites of Washington with equal gusto. That Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton came under fire is no great surprise, but even Rosie O'Donnell found herself on the receiving end of at least one candidate's barbs (guess which one.)
Here's a look at each candidate's best line.
Jeb Bush: "When we invaded, it was a mistake. I wouldn't have gone in."
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush struggled for weeks to respond to a question about whether he would have invaded Iraq in 2003, knowing what we know now about the country's lack of weapons of mass destruction. He ultimately conceded, "Knowing what we now know, I would not have engaged."
But his answer on Thursday evening put a finer point on that position - he actually said the word "mistake," more clearly separating himself from his brother on an issue that has bedeviled his candidacy perhaps more than any other. Amid an otherwise uninspiring performance, Bush's clarity on Iraq stood out.
Scott Walker: "The Russian and Chinese government know more about Hillary Clinton's e-mail server than do the members of the United States Congress."
Republicans have attacked Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server as Secretary of State, suggesting she may be hiding political embarrassments or exposing classified information to hackers, or both.
Walker's dig at Clinton was the sharpest of the night, and it may have demonstrated to Republican voters that he has enough fire in the belly to take on the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.
Mike Huckabee: "It seems like this election has been a whole lot about a person who's very high in the polls, that doesn't have a clue about how to govern. A person who has been filled with scandals, and who could not lead...and of course, I'm talking about Hillary Clinton."
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee threw plenty of red meat on Thursday - his answers on abortion, the Iranian nuclear agreement, and LGBT issues were forceful - but his best line came in his closing statement.
The audience obviously believed Huckabee was talking about Trump, offering a round of "ooohhh"s in anticipation of Trump's apoplectic response. But when he clarified that he was talking about Clinton, executing a class bait-and-switch, the tension evaporated and everyone laughed.
Ben Carson: "I'm the only one to separate siamese twins...the only one to operate on babies while they were still in mother's womb, the only one to take out half of a brain, although you would think, if you go to Washington, that someone had beat me to it."
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson turned in a mostly sleepy performance on Thursday, but the above zinger, folded into his closing statement, earned more than a few appreciative laughs from a GOP audience that scorns Washington politics and likes Carson's outsider approach.
The fact that he was able to remind voters of his storied career as a boundary-breaking neurosurgeon was an added bonus.
Ted Cruz: "There is a reason that we have $18 trillion in debt. Because as conservatives, as Republicans, we keep winning elections. We got a Republican House, we've got a Republican Senate, and we don't have leaders who honor their commitments. I will always tell the truth and do what I said I would do."
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has been a near-constant thorn in the side of his party's congressional leadership during his short time on Capitol Hill, and he wore his fights with the GOP establishment as a badge of honor during Thursday night's debate.
The line provided a telling glimpse into Cruz's strategy: Run against Washington even though you're a part of Washington. He's not shying away from the fact that he's unpopular among many Senate Republicans - he relishes it, and he'll seize every opportunity to remind Republican primary voters of it.
Marco Rubio: "If I'm our nominee, how is Hillary Clinton gonna lecture me about living paycheck to paycheck? I was raised paycheck to paycheck...How is she gonna lecture me about student loans? I owed over $100,000 just four years ago. If I'm our nominee, we will be the party of the future."
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's best line accomplished three strategic imperatives in one fell swoop: It offered a forward-looking message, urging voters to seize the future instead of litigating the past. It dinged the Democratic frontrunner and drew some appreciative laughs from the Republicans in the audience. And it highlighted electability as one of his main selling points, emphasizing an angle of attack he'll be able to deploy against Clinton that other GOP candidates might not: that he's a salt-of-the-earth candidate who understands the concerns of average Americans, and she's not.
Rubio's performance was crisp nearly from start to finish, but his first answer was likely his most memorable.
Rand Paul: "I don't trust President Obama with our records. I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead."
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's best line, directed at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was effective for two reasons: It reminded voters about his stand against government surveillance, a position that has set him apart from other Republicans and earned goodwill from the libertarian-minded voters in the party.
It also undermined one of Paul's fiercest critics within the party, reminding GOP voters of Christie's decision to embrace President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The hug stuck in the craw of Republican voters then, and judging by the applause Paul received Thursday, they haven't forgotten about it.
Chris Christie: "When you're sitting in a subcommittee, just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like that. When you're responsible for protecting the lives of the American people, then what you need to do is to make sure...that you use the system the way it's supposed to work."
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie didn't take Paul's criticism lying down, and he managed to fire off one of the night's better attack lines, showcasing the combative style that he's polished during seven rough and tumble years as governor of New Jersey.
He emerged as the most vocal defense hawk on the stage, and the one most willing to appeal to voters' sense of security to win votes.
John Kasich: "I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do, doesn't mean that I can't care about them or can't love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be [gay], of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That's what we're taught when we have strong faith."
Kasich came off as the most moderate candidate onstage, but he made no apologies for it, calmly explaining his decision to expand Medicaid under Obamacare and to accept the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage to a conservative base that largely opposes both of those positions.
He did it by leaning into his supposed heresies, rather than leaning way from them. He used the kind of values-focused language usually employed by the religious right to sell policies that many Christian conservatives want no part of - a bit of counterintuitive strategic jiu-jitsu that actually seemed to be effective, judging by the reaction of Kasich's home-state crowd. Nowhere was that more clearly captured than during his answer on same-sex marriage.
Donald Trump: " I don't frankly have time for total political correctness...What I say is what I say."
Billionaire businessman Donald Trump was repeatedly pressed on his recent cavalcade of inflammatory remarks, from disparaging comments about women to incendiary remarks about Mexican immigrants. But he didn't cede one inch to his critics, brushing them all aside in one blustery answer that perfectly encapsulated his devil-may-care approach to the race.
Whether voters will appreciate his refusal to back down or revise his remarks remains to be seen. But this much at least is true: Trump knows his brand, and he's going to keep selling it as long as it earns him applause.
Bonus Donald Trump: "Only Rosie O'Donnell"
In perhaps the most bizarre moment of the evening, Trump actually managed to resurrect a years-old feud with actress Rosie O'Donnell, explaining away a question about the derogatory language he's directed at women by insisting his harsh words were directed only at one woman in particular. His posture seemed to be, "Yeah, I said it - and can you blame me?"
O'Donnell could only shake her head in a response on Twitter:
try explaining that 2 ur kids
— Rosie (@Rosie) August 7, 2015
It's not clear Trump did himself any favors with his response.