Marco Rubio crushed Donald Trump in the GOP debate Thursday. Crushed him.
From start to finish, and on almost every question, Rubio was all over Donald. He even introduced a debate version of the Rope-a-Dope (and no, it did not involve Gov. John Kasich) where he landed one verbal jab at Trump before switching direction and landing another. The move left Trump stunned and, maybe for the first time since he was a toddler, speechless at times.
Ted Cruz tried to add to the onslaught, but Cruz goes at this like a debate, and to knock the shine off Trump, you have to approach it like a barroom argument.
Thursday night, Rubio took the argument to Trump and turned heads.
By almost every post-debate recap – even some of the independent polling systems and reaction rooms that have been super pro-Trump after the previous eight debates Trump was in – had Rubio as the clear winner.
Heading into the monstrous Super Tuesday next week, Rubio had to make a dramatic move, and he clearly did.
That’s the biggest takeaway from Thursday night.
The biggest question heading into the weekend, though, is will it matter?
Trump leads in almost all of the Super Tuesday states, and some of those leads appear insurmountable.
How dominating is Trump? Well, going into that debate, he led in the home states of Kasich (Ohio), Cruz (Texas) and Rubio (Florida) by at least 5 percentage points in each.
Rubio’s stellar performance Thursday night – and his continued push into the Friday morning talk shows – surely will help him.
The odds on the GOP nomination, even after Thursday night’s Rubio runaway, are Trump a 2-to-5 favorite, which means you have to bet $50 to win $20, Rubio at 2-to-1, Cruz and Kasich at 40-to-1 – yes, that Ted Cruz is at 40-to-1 speaks volumes that while Rubio attacked and scored points against Trump Thursday night, he absolutely killed all hope Ted Cruz has.
As for Ben Carson, well, the doctor is now at 300-to-1, which is actually a great deal behind Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney – you know, two guys who are not even running.
Next up
OK, the establishment formerly known as the Grocery Bar is about to be some sort of art house theater.
Awesome.
There’s no telling how many times over the last decade I’ve pondered, “Man, this town really needs some sort of trendy, overpriced theater with limited parking.”
Well, there is a ballpark number and it starts at zero.
The only way this could be a worse idea is if they need a retaining wall and they used the experts who built that disaster outside the Publix.
Cleveland rocks
OK, there are like 75 school systems in Tennessee looking for a superintendent. Actually, that’s high, but there are four pretty significant systems – Knoxville, Nashville, Cleveland city and Hamilton County – looking for new bosses.
The other three systems are already looking and moving forward. Hamilton County is spinning its figurative governmental wheels debating about separation plans and pondering the modern-day Shakespearean quandary – “To buy or not to buy” – Rick Smith’s contract.
Heck, Cleveland has already put together a brochure detailing the job and the qualities of its ideal candidates.
We have not seen said brochure, but here’s betting it makes little reference to the Sodom and Gomorrah that up to recently has been the Cleveland Police Department.
And considering the way former schools chief Dr. Martin Ringstaff met his demise, there probably is a pretty clear texting policy somewhere in that brochure.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com. His “Right to the Point” columns run on A2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.