What Conservatives Are Saying About Marco Rubio at the #GOPDebate in Cleveland, Ohio on August 6, 2015

What Conservatives Are Saying About Marco Rubio at the #GOPDebate in Cleveland, Ohio on August 6, 2015
 
FOX’s Elisabeth Hasselback: “Many people believe that Marco Rubio actually stole the show, and came out looking quite presidential.” (FOX News, 8/7/15)

Peggy Noonan: “Marco Rubio was fresh, crisp and poised. Hillary Clinton, he said, won’t be able to lecture him on living paycheck to paycheck because ‘I was raised paycheck to paycheck.’ He has successfully staked out the future as his theme—one that of course is underscored by his youth.” (Peggy Noonan, Op-Ed, “Fireworks at the Republican Debate,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/7/15)

• Noonan: Marco “has successfully staked out the future as his theme.” (Twitter, 8/7/15)

FOX New’s Chris Stirewalt: “The best individual performance was that of Marco Rubio ... Rubio, like Walker, passed a key plausibility threshold.” (Chris Stirewalt, “Fox News First -- It was YUGE! GOP debate rocks Cleveland,” FOX News, 8/7/15)
Guy Benson: Marco’s “first few answers were focused, informed and smoothly delivered. He's likable. He's fresh. He's smart. Offered an early chance to punch at Jeb Bush, he turned his answer into a clever contrast point regarding Hillary Clinton.” (Guy Benson, “Analysis: Rowdy, Memorable Republican Debate Lives Up to Hype,” Townhall, 8/7/15)

Stephen F. Hayes: “Rubio Wins the Main Event” (Stephen F. Hayes, “Rubio Wins the Main Event,” The Weekly Standard, 8/7/15)

• Hayes: “[Rubio] consistently gave strong and substantive answers that at times emphasized the compelling story of his family and at others demonstrated his depth of knowledge on the subject matter discussed.” (Stephen F. Hayes, “Rubio Wins the Main Event,” The Weekly Standard, 8/7/15)

John Podhoretz: “Rubio emerges as the party’s brightest star” (John Podhoretz, “Rubio emerges as the party’s brightest star,” New York Post, 8/7/15)

• Podhoretz: Marco “stuck to substance, and his fluid speaking style and unique talent for extemporaneously combining eloquence with fact set him above and apart from the other nine men on stage.” (John Podhoretz, “Rubio emerges as the party’s brightest star,” New York Post, 8/7/15)

• Podhoretz: “[I]t was Rubio’s night, because it was really the first time that Republican voters got to see what those who pay extraordinarily close attention to the ins and outs of the electoral game have learned about him: He is the best off-the-cuff speaker in American politics. His first answer was the evening’s most impressive in bringing the argument for his candidacy down to the basic needs and interests of the voters.” (John Podhoretz, “Rubio emerges as the party’s brightest star,” New York Post, 8/7/15)

Mary Katharine Ham: “[Rubio] really made the best of his time.” (Mary Katharine Ham, “Trump says “questions were not nice,” Rubio makes best of his time,” Hot Air, 8/7/15)

• Ham: “Rubio was calm, above-the-fray, and characteristically smooth and eloquent. His first answer … was a symbol for his entire debate performance.” (Mary Katharine Ham, “Trump says “questions were not nice,” Rubio makes best of his time,” Hot Air, 8/7/15)

Jonathan V. Last: “Rubio was good all night—if we were doing a sabermetric ranking of the candidates, he lead the field. Easily.” (Jonathan V. Last, “The Best, Classiest Debate Ever,” The Weekly Standard, 8/6/15)