U-M Analyst Says Rubio Won GOP Debate

ANN ARBOR (CBS Detroit) Another Republican presidential debate is in the books, but who won? The director of debate at the University of Michigan, Aaron Kall, gives the win to Senator Marco Rubio.

Rubio managed to hit contender Jeb Bush with what some considered a devastating blow.

"Bush, who was the well-financed front-runner at the beginning of the year, had one good moment in the beginning of the debate, when he attacked Rubio for his record of absences in the Senate," wrote the Washington Post. But that moment quickly became a devastating one for Bush, as Rubio responded with a faux-friendly cutdown: 'Someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you,' he told Bush. 'It's not.'"

Kall said Rubio's one liner will be played many times in the days to come, giving him an edge.

"He had several memorable one-liners," he said, adding, "He got the better of the exchange and I predict this will be a breakout performance for his campaign going forward."

He added that jibe seemed to resonate through the rest of the debate.

"It seemed that he (Rubio) rehearsed both a substantive defense and how to execute that, and I think he built it up pretty well," he said. "After that debate early in the exchange, I didn't think Gov. Bush was the same candidate, he never fully recovered from that."

While Rubio won, Kall said frontrunners Ben Carson and Donald Trump didn't hurt themselves.

"I think they fared well because they kind of flew under the radar and didn't really mix it up with the lower tier of candidates," Kall said. "Well maybe a little bit uneven, I think they both had non-memorable performances."

With 10 candidates, it wasn't the ideal format, but Kall said it was beneficial for voters to learn more about them.