The ten Republican presidential candidates with the highest polling numbers met in last night in debate. This was THE best debate ever. Of the 17 candidates between the two debates, a full dozen would be a huge step in the right direction for America. I wish Donald Trump could have been less combative and thin-skinned, but having been on a smaller, but similar stage in 2012, I know how destructive a mean-spirited question can be. It can throw you off for the rest of the evening. And to their everlasting shame, Fox became a participant in the political game, not merely the “fair and balanced” facilitators of a debate. No, Fox was determined to knock Trump out in the first debate. It started in the first 30 seconds. [insert] Trump, to his everlasting credit TOLD THE TRUTH. [insert] He even admitted that he was using that threat for leverage. [insert] And so obviously, he knew exactly what he was talking about. Now I DO NOT think this is a good strategy, but we now see why he did it. The Donald knows darned good and well that a 3rd party run would be a disaster for America. He was just trying use the threat to prevent the bushwhacking the Fox News team gave him last night. Donald, that threat has served its purpose, now you should discard it. Throughout the evening, Trump only got negative “gotcha” questions. Every other candidate got at least one softball question where he or she could shine. Considering all that, Trump did the best that a Donald Trump could do. People want a fighter. America is in a fight for its life. Mr. Obama has spent 6 years trying to fundamentally destroy it. When you are in a fight, you need a leader who you can trust to fight for America. Trump is that fighter, he can’t just change. If Fox was really interested in getting something good out of Trump they should have asked him how to reduce the nearly total power that big money has on the political process. That’s something he is a world expert on. For example, the Fox News team asked Trump about his 4 bankruptcies. He fought back with a good answer. [insert: “I’ve done hundreds of deals…”] Then he pointed out that he has never gone into personal bankruptcy. [insert] Of course, Megyn Kelly tried to confuse the audience on this point, but Trump caught her and fought back. Then he opened door #3 – the black door: [insert] A good reporter would have torn up the script and leaped thru that door. A good reporter would have gotten something useful for America, but instead we moved to the next “gotcha question” asking about name calling in response to Rosie O’Donnell’s attacks. This was just one of the low points in the Fox News presentation. Are we really stooping so low that now it’s acceptable for debate moderators to point out: “You called this person a mean name 17 years ago.”? O’Donnell deserves the ire of Americans. Although after the debate, Megyn Kelly tried to defend the question by saying that all women would be offended, my wife is a woman and she wasn’t. She says Rosie fully deserved it. Besides dirty mouthing everyone except the ultra-left Hollywood crowd, O’Donnell has complained that Osama bin Laden was assassinated without due process of law. She was booted off television because advertisers didn’t want their names associated with her. I just hope when I have to face my Maker he doesn’t parade all the name calling and back biting I’ve committed over the course of my short existence here on this realm – nor would anyone in this audience. To sum it up, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Mike Huckabee and Carly Fiorina looked super sharp last night and helped themselves. Ben Carson probably helped himself out with a great closing statement. Ted Cruz, again, says the right stuff, but his passion just seems contrived to me. I’m still open however because my intuition has been wrong before. Cruz has a problem with eligibility. I’d like to see his response to the fact that he was born in Canada and, in fact, did not renounce his Canadian citizenship until last year. Big problem. I’ll do a report on this soon. It remains to be seen how much damage Fox did to Trump last night, some writers this morning think his defense against the Fox attacks was good enough for the win. I can’t say that. He was flustered. He got angry. Will people excuse it? Don’t know. But one thing is for sure, from this point on, Trump’s best move is to rise above and look more Presidential, not less. Remember the old adage among chess players, Donald – make your next best move. Forget about the failures of the past. Do your best from this point on.