A Glimpse of the Republican Race That Might Have Been
But as I watched the debate, I was struck by the thought that this was the race that might have been, had he never thrown his hat into the ring:
It was possible, again, to understand why a calmer, more confident Jeb Bush had once seemed like the frontrunner, as he fielded tough questions without pandering to the crowd. Marco Rubio delivered a typically polished performance, only this time, it wasn’t overshadowed by Trump’s antics. Rand Paul stressed the issues, from civil liberties to criminal-justice reform to a more restrained foreign-policy, that set him apart from the field and were supposed to make him a contender.