For the most part, Tuesday's GOP debate was like watching middle-schoolers on a playground - again.
Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio stopped short of fisticuffs. Carly Fiorina, by turns, sounded bossy then whiny then bossy again. (Yes, we do hate the stereotype of women, but on Tuesday night, Fiorina fit the sad, tired description.)
Likewise, Chris Christie - bullying on about showing muscle nationally and internationally - looked every bit like the blustery, vengeful guy whose aides, as Rand Paul pointed out, constricted access to a bridge over a political slight.
"When we think about the judgment of someone who might want World War III, we might think about someone who might shut down a bridge," Paul said.
While Ben Carson and John Kasich napped, Donald Trump said Jeb Bush called him "unhinged" because Bush "has failed in this campaign. It's been a total disaster. Nobody cares."
But Bush and the crowd got the last word after a briny exchange over fear mongering vs. knowledgeable national security:
"Donald, you're not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency," Bush said, addressing Trump as a firm and serious father might. "Leadership is not about attacking people and disparaging people. Leadership is about creating a serious strategy to deal with the threat of our time."
Trump's temper flared, and he reverted to still more insults: "With Jeb's attitude, we will never be great again, that I can tell you - we will never be great again."
The audience booed.
Thus, put-downs ruled the night.
There was a scant handful of positive standouts.
Jeb Bush finally caught the beat and looked both almost strong and almost presidential.
Rand Paul stood by real freedom: "If we ban certain religions, if we censor the Internet, I think that at that point the terrorists will have won."
And Lindsey Graham, at the kid's table in the earlier debate, proved to be a real leader by taking on the rabid talk that paints all Muslims (or any religion) with one brush: "There are at least 3,500 American Muslims serving in the armed forces. Thank you for your service. You are not the enemy. Your religion is not the enemy."
Graham continued: "I was at the second presidential election in Afghanistan. The guy guarding me was an American Muslim sergeant in the Army who grew up in Kabul, left when he was - graduated high school, joined the U.S. Army, went back to his high school where they were doing polling, people voting, he took me there and cried like a baby. I cried like a baby. He is the solution to this problem, folks. He is not the problem. Leave the faith alone. Go after the radicals that kill us all."
As for Donald Trump's seemingly sincere on-stage promise not to run as an independent?
Stay tuned - the election season is still young. We may have some Trump-like towers in Grundy County to sell you.