It has been 24 hours since they exited stage right at the milwaukee theater. How they do . Superduper well, according to some sources. We have had three strong debates. Do you think this was your best . More good reviews for you last night. This was a good, substantive debate. I thought it was great. I thought it was a terrific debate. I feel great. I feel good about it. People say i won it but i think i did well. Mark if youre dizzy, it might be because of the postdebate spin, although this time we kind of believe it. In your official record of the debate, you scored everyone between a b and b . So much of the bell curve. What do you think . Has there been a major fallout . Mark the big thing now is, based on their performance, we now have the big four. Trump and carson are the front runners numerically, and cruz an d rubio, who have dominated the last two debates and have rising constituencies and increasingly clear path to the nomination. That big four emerges, and anyone out wide that was probably bush, kasich, and christie will have to fight their way in. John i agree. We had the big four coming in, at one of the questions was what apple carts might get upset. Almost every element of conflict and clash that anyone predicted none of them materialized, partly because of the way the business folks conducted the debate. And one of the things that i took away is that ben carson, for all the problems he had going into this debate, and i made much of it, he managed to skate through this thing last night. I thought before going into the debate that these problems might keep going. After last night i was worried they might fade away. Mark i told him so. The other thing that relates to my first takeaway i used to think that two of the establishment guys could emerge to be finalists. I now think the big for me ur they become so entrenched that there is only room for one. They could be that none of those other three guys get any oxygen, but at this point, you have got to think about how you emerge amongst that group of three. John and i will build on that by saying i agree, but i will go further. On the basis just of the debate performance, not whats going on, just on performance, the only one who can claw his way in his Chris Christie. I saw nothing from Jeb Bush Mark so preminger. So premature. John i stipulated on the basis of the performance, and it is hard to claw your way in. You need some big moments. Right now, kasich was very poor. Bush was better than he was but not fantastic. Christie still has within him the ability to create a real moment. We saw it last night. Mark one of the big argument that emerged last night from the establishment candidate was about electability. Chris christie, John Kasey Kahne in jeb bush made that case that they know the way to win, they know the way to beat hillary clinton, and the key is electability. Ill tell you what ill bring to the table. The fact that i have one in a blue state. I won an estate that has 750,000 more democrats than republicans. When the fall comes and we run against hillary, which will be a disaster if she got elected i have 216yearold girls and i want this country to be strong. We make promises we cant keep under the bright light of the fall, we will have trouble. 12 million illegal immigrants, send them back. 500,000 a month that is not possible. Its not embracing american values. It would tear communities apart. It would send a signal that we are not the kind of country that i know america is. Even having this conversation sends a powerful signal. They are doing highfives and the Clinton Campaign when they hear this. That is the problem with this. We have to win the presidency, and the way you win the presidency is the practical plan. John we will get to the question of highfives in a minute. Is this a electability argument a strong one for these three guys, who all believe in their hearts and had that they are more electable than the big four . Mark no. I think electability is a big argument in every election if you want to vote for a winner, but in this Republican Party with the mood they have, they dont see those electability arguments, which a lot of arguments are why we arent making arguments of principle, why we are not standing up for what their Publican Party should stand up for. Those sound to me, and to a lot of republican years, like moderates trying to make excuses. Mark and we have seen that every four years and it wins. Cup located for christie now, because he can talk about his election between the new jersey economy and the fact that he is head of a democratic state, suggesting he may have appeared before a grand jury he has got a tall case to make. Kasich and bush can make electability arguments, and there are voters if the big four have trouble every one of them has older ability. Republicans do not want to lose to hillary. John the other thing that undercuts it is that the guy who was writing the electability train without talking about it is marco rubio. It is hard for any of those guys you see what i am saying. Between the years, the hispanic origins those three guys have a hard time making a case that they are more electable than marco rubio. Mark bush and kasich and christie just like john kerry did. He was given up for dead in 2004 and made the argument and got the nomination. Heard jeb bush claim that everyone at the Clinton Campaign were highfiving watching the Republican Debate. Instante to provide an backcheck was the secretary. We actually are doing highfives right now. Mark, my question to you, do you think those people in brooklyn were highfiving . And if they were, were they right to be highfiving . Mark there was a lot of rhetoric, and in the campaign more broadly, that is hurting them, and the democrats dont have to soak it. It is all just out there. Aboutspute in my sources, whether they fear rubio. James carble thinks he is the only republican who could be here. I know a lot of people in the clinton wrote think you would not be hard to beat. John they were highfiving literally in brooklyn. Highfives were exchanged. And you are right on immigration, on taxes, on a variety of issues they feel like they are seeing this dynamic where mainstream candidates jeb bush among them being dragged to the right in a place where they dont want to be. It is 2012 all over again and they point to his comments about the dream act. Mark and his position on abortion. One of the electability arguments jeb bush wants to make is rubio opposes abortion. 0 issue. A 9019 the clinton people can do what george w. Bush did, what obama did eliminate the republicans, and clinton can win no matter what. When we come back, the most exciting rise in politics marco rubio, and what his rivals told me last night in milwaukee about the question of age. Later in the show, our brandnew segment with no due respect. Fraudulent political theater of the day you wont want to miss the debut of that. We will be back in 60 seconds. Mark Marco Rubio John marco rubio has gone to the darling front runner and many in the establishment he departed the theater last although wered, did glimpse a few of the ways his rivals may try to gun him down in the future. Lets start with ted cruz, who mentioned rubios name, and was clearly thinking of him on immigration. The democrats are laughing, because if republicans joined democrats as the party of amnesty, we will lose. [cheering] know, i understand that when the Mainstream Media covers immigration, it doesnt see it as an economic issue, but i can tell you, for millions of americans at home watching this, it is a very personal economic issue. I will say that the politics of it will be very different if a bunch of lawyers are bankers were crossing the rio grande. John two biggest questions right now how vulnerable is rubio, who will come after rubio, and how well he defended himself. He will take it from all 5 democrats will say he flipflopped. The republicans will say he was always for conference of reform. How vulnerable is he . Mark pretty vulnerable. He has got the problem we just identified he has been on multiple sides of the issue, pleasing no one. No one is ready to defend him. He doesnt have a real explanation for how he went from where he was to where he is. The place where his heart is, where he started out, give some grateful her ability. Ted cruz, donald trump, and others. John one of the undervalued aspect is his political skill. When theyre attacked, they dont just play defense. They are going to come back at anyone who comes after them on immigration with their own attacks. I think that rubio does have to worry about his electability, because it is such a hot thing, which is why he fully. Mark how do you get yourself in a place where you can get through this nomination fight and fend off attacks from the far right while still emerging in a place that doesnt render you unelectable with enough hispanic voters . A very hard needle to thread. John he skated last night even after cruz brought it up. He took a pass when asked about it, but it is coming back. When negative ads start against him mark he has the personal financial stuff. Lets look at another instance ted cruz taking a subtle shot at marco rubio. He brought up the u. S. Sugar industry subsidy, the program he supported in the past because it benefits the sweet sugar industry special interests in florida. I mentioned that this is one of the 25 programs that i would eliminate among them are corporate welfare like sugar subsidies. Lets take that as an example. Sugar subsidies. On roughlyrs farm 0. 2 of the farmland in america, and yet they get 40 of the lobbying money. That sort of corporate welfare is why we are bankrupting our kids and grandkids. I would and those subsidies to pay for defending this nation. John i like the way he takes issue out of the year. Sugar subsidies, how about that . He defended his position. I am prepared to get rid of the sugar program. The problem is every country in the world that grows sugar has a program of th subsidy. When they get rid of theirs i will get rid of hours. Free trade. Im not going to wipe out an american industry that happens to have a lot of workers in florida by unilaterally disarming. John mark, how convinced are of buy that line of defense, his indulgence and corporate welfare . Mark when these guys face off, invariably both of them have enough strength that they will be toward the final night. You will see a stylistic matchup that will matter a lot more than the substantive attacks. Cruz is a harder driver stylistically. What happens when cruz comes into rubios space . We got a preview, and we saw a rubio respond. Will rubio be able to get the better of those exchanges . I dont know. John i have not seen in my career a lot of corporate welfare attacks work well. Americans who dont think hard about Economic Issues or the ideology behind them you make that argument. Maybe it is more my state, but immigration is a hot button issue. Corporate welfare not nearly the kind of issue finally, the ageold question for this not so old candidate. For months, is he too young at 44, still in the very key demographic, to be president of the United States, to convince voters he has the experience . It hasnt helped that the current president is often derided as someone who came at a young age. So after the debate last night, i asked three of his opponents what they think about the idea of a 40 something president. Can someone in their 40s in general be ready . I think so. So you and say rubio i think the 40s will be fine. We had a lot of professionals on that stage. I would not be one to say i could have done it and i will not be one to say no. I could say no and it is easier but i will not say it. Are you ready in your 40s . Not sure anybody in their 40s is. Obviously we have Young Leaders in america before. They have done great work. I think this job is much more daunting than we have ever seen, and i think lets put it this way. The more experience, the better. It is clear that being young and new is both an advantage and disadvantage. Where will it end up . John if he continues to perform strongly, if he has command of the facts, if he doesnt have moments where he is grabbing for water bottles, it wont be a problem it is huge asset. But because there are people with other eyes on it one moment where he looks like he is young, people will seize on it. Events think that the will matter, the framing will matter. If the guy he was matched up with at the end, if that person has a way to exploit it, it may be his biggest vulnerability. Not that it will stop him but it is his biggest vulnerability. Everyone else he is competing against has more experience than he does. Up next, the one and only albert jr. And his hot take on last nights debate. John with the focus of last nights debate on economics, we thought it would be wise to consult an oracle on the topic. Luckily for us, we have the ultimate such sage plugged into the number one slot on our speed dial. Specatcular Albert Reinhold hunt, jr. A look at one of the more contentious moments from last night between marco rubio and rand paul. The family is the most Important Institution i do want to rebuild the american military. I know it around is a committed i know iran is a committed isolationist but i am not. [cheering] how is it conservative to add 1 trillion in expenditures to the federal government that you are not paying for . How is it conservative to add 1 trillion in military expenditures . You cannot be a conservative if you are going to keep promoting new programs you will not pay for. We cant even have an economy if we are not safe. There are radical jihadists crucifying christians. A radical shia cleric trying to get a nuclear weapon. Chinese taking over the south china sea. I believe the world is safer, but i know that the world is a safer and better place when america is the Strongest Military power in the world. Al, i thought that was one of the most interesting exchanges i have seen in any of the Republican Debates so far. Who anything got the better of it and what does it say about the party . Al i think marco rubio got the better of it. Two years earlier, it would have been much closer. The party, including the country, were sick of war and foreign ventures, but then issa started beheading people. Won. Lastclearly he night night. Tingly won last marco rubio has the cheney views and some of his people working for him. A more fundamental question will be, will that also prevail in the long run . Im not sure if that. John youre talking about within the nomination or the general . Al both. Even the nomination fight. Im not sure that the dick cheney views and he does have a number of top cheney people cruz and bush both separate themselves a little bit. Cruz says lets go in, but i do want to do any nationbuilding. Mark on the economy, which is being presented as understanding the good economy . Al mark, this will shock you, but if you look at it substantively, the answer would be john kasich. His budget, his tax plan, is the only one that holds together. Bute of it is unrealistic, l it holds together. The others do not. But john kasich not have a good night last night, and he will be remembered more for some slips like the banking issue. John stylistic problems overshadow the substance. Al absolutely. Mark what do you think was the biggest flub of the night . Al well, there were a number. Of the most intriguing flub was the way ted cruz made a flub saying he was going to eliminate rick perry did that for years and couldnt read them. Cruz, instead of stalling, basically just said commerce twice. Ey, didnt you h double count commerce . It showed how quick he was, that he was able to segue to sugar subsidies. He joked about that today. Mark the other big fight was on the bank bailout question, whether banks should be too big to fail. That is a dispute between ted cruz and a bunch of other people. Who got the best of that argument on substance and theater . Al i think cruz did. Leftwing winghe of the Democratic Party or the right wing of the Republican Party, they hate big bands. They think wall street may not like them, and when ted cruz said no more bailouts, im not sure thats a realistic policy, but he clearly won the crowd. John you mentioned several times that cruz is touching a lot of the hot buttons of the party. Busy vulnerable at all within the base . Is there any position he has where you think he is vulnerable . Al im not sure hes vulnerable within the base at all. There is a different issue with the general election. If there is a problem that ted cruz has, nobody speaks better from the head. He doesnt begin to approach marco rubios eking from the heart. Marco rubio speaking from the heart. Mark one of the things we love about al hunt is that he speaks from the head and the heart. Thank you, al. Coming up, we are counting down the weeks before the voting begins. What of the candidates need to do before then . Courtesy of big brains. John the starbucks right cups are out. Four morereau more republican more president ial debates. Here to speculate with us, then ginsburg. Kerrick. A. , bill ben, let me start with you. Moving into this new phase of the campaign, what do you think these candidates are going to be focused on as we head into the holidays and into a time when debates may matter a little bit less. Ben absolutely the time where they need to target their states and target their voters within the states to be sure those voters are going to come out and vote for them. There will be a lot of messaging geared at particular segments of the republican primary electorate, especially in iowa, New Hampshire, south carolina, and nevada. Mark you have spent a career making a lot of tv ads. Ads not seen jeb bush move his numbers in the right directions. Would you think you could drive poll numbers in the early stages with paid media on television . Bill it is very hard to do it with early media. Late withut success media. Early media seems to evaporate. Firepower on the media site at the end is very important. , hard to what we saw get a message across, having big rating points at the end is what matters. Mark what does the end mean . Through that . Ak bill it means the last month, basically, is when you need media. That includes social media, radio, cable, anything you can buy. The other thing, super pacs are going to pay much higher rates than the candidates are. The way the republicans think, i am curious how soon you think mr. Rubio is going to start to see a lot of negative incoming over the air that bill was talking about. When does that start . Iowa,bout six weeks from maybe middecember for a prechristmas present. It will be a very