Despite the large number of candidates on the stage at the Ronald Reagan Library, the second debate of Republican presidential candidates was an astounding display of how intellectually bankrupt the Republican Party has become in 2015.
Beyond the many subplots—such as a red-faced Donald Trump eating crow for his nasty remarks about ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s looks (then he told a nationwide audience she was beautiful) or Jeb Bush telling Trump that he failed to bribe Florida politicans into allowing a casino to be built when he was governor (Trump replied that wasn’t true—because he would have gotten it if he wanted it), the debaters, as a group, sought to highlight what Republican leadership consists of and could mean for Americans and the world.