More than one winner in second GOP debate

Marijuana, vaccines, and vetoes: During a marathon prime-time debate on Wednesday night, the top 11 contenders for the Republican presidential nomination covered everything from the kind of pot Jeb Bush smoked in high school to the kinds of vaccines the government should require for small children.

Perhaps the biggest news of the evening: Donald Trump and Ben Carson, the two front-runners going into the debates, took their place behind podiums on center stage but didn’t take the spotlight during nearly three hours of whirlwind discussion.

Indeed, Trump didn’t tower above the pack he’s led for months when he faced detailed questions about substantial policy. And Carson hung back as a handful of other contenders seized the dais to make cogent arguments and try their best to look presidential.

The evening at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., began at 6 p.m. EDT with an undercard debate for the four lowest-polling contenders: Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, former Gov. George Pataki of New York, and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.

Santorum punctuated his pro-life cred by beginning and ending the debate with a reminder about his work against partial-birth abortion. Pataki, the only pro-abortion candidate in the GOP race, emphasized his ability to govern as a Republican in a Democratic state.

Jindal heralded the importance of religious liberty and skewered congressional Republicans for their ineffectiveness, saying he was angrier with them than he was with President Obama.

But it was Graham, a security hawk polling at zero percent in some states, who managed to steal the spotlight with self-deprecating humor and a relentless focus on foreign policy. The underdog of the underdogs turned most questions back to the subject of radical Islam and seemed unwilling to let Americans forget the security threats facing the nation.

By 7:45 p.m., surprised CNN pundits were declaring Graham the winner of the undercard debate.

By 8 p.m., the top 11 GOP contenders were joining the underdogs on stage for a group photo in front of President Ronald Reagan’s retired Air Force One jet in the grand pavilion at the library that seats hundreds.

(Jindal and Graham skipped the photo op to stay in the spin room and grab much-needed airtime with journalists, leaving some to wonder whether we’ll see Jindal in this group again. Texas Gov. Rick Perry dropped out of the race last week.)

As the main event began, the top contenders were joined by a new addition: Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina managed to move up from the previous debate’s undercard realm to the main stage.

Clearly, she relished the role.

Fiorina, the only woman in the GOP race, was articulate and persistent and seemed prepared to answer most any question that came (or didn’t come) her way. Capitalizing on the same outsider status that has helped Trump and Carson surge to the top of the polls, Fiorina said the country’s problems don’t primarily come from one party or the other but from an entire political system that fosters corruption and incompetence.

But Fiorina’s most effective moment of the night came as she launched a withering attack on Planned Parenthood and the U.S. government’s funding of the abortion behemoth. After daring Democratic contender Hillary Clinton to watch the undercover videos recently released by the Center for Medical Progress, Fiorina forcefully added: “Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain. This is about the character of our nation, and if we will not stand up and force President Obama to veto this bill, shame on us.”

An otherwise reserved debate audience roared its approval.

Fiorina wasn’t the only standout. After a round of awkward, moderator-induced bickering between Bush and Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida interrupted the debate with a cogent foreign policy analysis of the crisis in the Middle East and the looming threat of Vladimir Putin’s influence in the region.

He defended his opposition to President Obama’s limited use of force in Syria, saying “pinprick” assaults were more dangerous than helpful: “If the United States military is going to be engaged by a commander in chief, it should only be engaged in an endeavor to win. And we’re not going to authorize use of force if you’re not put in a position where they can win.”

Rubio also managed to elevate what’s become at times a strident discussion of immigration among other GOP candidates. He said he favored securing the borders and dealing with immigrants in the country illegally but also reminded viewers of the beauty of legal immigration, pointing out his own family’s heritage as Cuban immigrants.

Chris Christie pressed his way into the discussions as well, emphasizing his outsider status as a Republican governor in New Jersey and saying he had vetoed 400 bills by a “crazy liberal Democratic legislature.”

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas re-doubled his loathing of President Obama’s Iran deal and promised to shred it the first day he took office. In one of the sharper policy disagreements of the evening, Ohio Gov. John Kasich said he didn’t like the deal either but would work to enforce it if he became president.

Meanwhile, other candidates worked to get into the discussion: Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky emphasized his defense of the U.S. Constitution and plunged into the thick of a couple prickly foreign policy discussions, but he didn’t come out as aggressive as his appearance in the last debate.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee offered an impassioned defense of Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis’ refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and said defunding Planned Parenthood wasn’t enough: All abortions must stop.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker recovered from a lackluster first debate appearance, but it wasn’t clear whether a series of clever but clearly rehearsed one-liners would be enough to reinvigorate an unexpectedly flagging campaign.

Bush faced the highest expectations to overcome flagging poll numbers, and the former Florida governor managed to stare down Trump in a couple of key moments. When Trump took a swing at Bush’s big brother (former President George W. Bush) for the Iraq War, the younger Bush threaded a tricky needle: He didn’t defend the Iraq War, but he did defend his brother: “The one thing I know for sure, he kept us safe.”

Trump mostly resisted puerile swipes at his fellow candidates (except for a weak jab at Rand Paul’s looks) but generally fell flat when pressed for specifics on his policy proposals. He reiterated his commitment to deport 11 million illegal immigrants and let the “good ones” back in, but he resisted several pointed questions about how he would pay for such a plan and how he would execute it.

Carson brought a more specific policy proposal on taxes, saying he favors a proportional tax based on the principle of tithing: Everyone paying a proportional share, based on income. But the retired neurosurgeon maintained his calm demeanor and didn’t jump into the fray of most debates.

What didn’t happen: a showdown between Trump and Carson. The two front-runners seemed content to leave each other alone in the wake of the more substantial policy discussions happening around them during the course of the evening.

It’s unclear whether a hang-back strategy will allow the pair to continue their rise in the polls, or whether other candidates will have breakout moments in the weeks ahead.

As the evening wound down, some candidates seized the opportunity to make one last impression. When debate moderator Jake Tapper of CNN asked what they’d want their Secret Service code names to be if they became president, Trump and Bush offered the most entertaining responses.

Trump’s flatly delivered preference: “Humble.”

And Bush’s pushback on Trump’s criticism that he’s low-energy: “Eveready.”