GOP Rumble In The Rockies

English: Official portrait of US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The ten remaining Republican presidential candidates considered ready for prime time by CNBC debated for two hours Wednesday at the University of Colorado in Boulder.  This is the time limit demanded by Donald Trump and Ben Carson if the business-oriented cable channel (best known for reruns of "Shark Tank") wanted to be graced by their presence.

In those two hours, it wasn't the front-runners who shined.  It was Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who made the most of his single-digit poll position in sounding more Presidential than the other candidates when it came to, for example, defending himself against former Governor Jeb Bush's contention that the Senator did a great job in avoiding his duties.  Rubio replied that Bush was only saying that because they're both running for the same office.

Bush wasn't the only one on stage who looked and sounded desperate, which is obvious given his poll numbers.  While Trump was his usual animated self, Carson's calm demeanor was slightly above cadaver status (or as Trump would put it:  "low energy"), Carly Fiorina came across as a 19th century schoolmarm, Ted Cruz did his usual blustering, and John Kasich, Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee did their best to be heard.

Otherwise, it was just another GOP food fight where nobody wanted to discuss the issues facing the country they claimed they wanted to discuss.  Instead, they'd rather bash the media, Hillary Clinton and each other, in no particular order.  There were even references to Colorado's legalizing marijuana and to fantasy football.  Reforming Social Security and Obamacare did get some airplay, though.

CNN reports that the Republicans and the candidates complained about the tone of the questions coming from CNBC's moderators and reporters.   Carl Quintanilla and Rebecca Quick did well in their roles, so long as they stuck to questions about business and the economy.  But whose idea was it to include, among others, Jim Cramer?  The guy who hosts "Mad Money"?  Wasn't Kevin O'Leary available?

It's a long road to the Republican presidential nomination.  We also know that there are plenty of peaks and valleys in Colorado, just as there are in politics.  Whoever survives to claim the summit will get there on the basis of how much support he or she gets, and how high the mountain of campaign money accumulates.  Unless your name is Donald Trump, who doesn't seem to need either.