“The Matinee” debate...

Last night, we finally got around to watching the “matinee” debate involving the four GOP candidates that were trailing the polls, and were relegated to a time and setting very few watched.

The debate was civil, interesting and – in my view - dominated by Lindsey Graham, whom apart from being a warmonger, made a few interesting comments. The foursome didn't get mad at the panel of journalists and, most importantly got more than 20 minutes each of face time, versus about 8 minutes for their 10 evening counterparts.

This scarcity of face-time is probably what got Cruz and Christie unhinged and angry at the CNBC moderators. Had the GOP been smart (!!!) they would have divided their field of candidates into two equal groups of seven giving them more time, space, visibility and opportunity to make their point.

Instead, their unimaginative tactics made the Party's best hopes look awful, while their four laggards shone in matinee...