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5 questions Saturday’s Faith & Freedom forum will answer

The crowd of Republican presidential candidates gathering in Des Moines on Saturday evening needs to address only a narrow band of issues, but they must say the right thing if they want to impress an influential bloc of caucusgoers.

The media are full of reviews of last night’s debates, declaring some candidates winners or losers or assessing whether they did what they needed. Much of the attention is focused on businesswoman Carly Fiorina, who seems by most accounts to be the evening’s winner, as this Bloomberg View article suggests:

Carly the Conqueror

No candidate took the stage with a greater opportunity, or higher expectations, than Carly Fiorina. That she proceeded to steal the show was the insta-conventional wisdom—and, in this case, ... Read More >>

It can be dangerous to predict how the polls will move in response to debates. On the one hand, journalists and political pundits don’t have so much in common with the Republican voters who are watching the debates at home. On the other hand, the post-debate narratives and “spin” sometimes matter more than what happened on the debate stage itself.

The second Republican presidential debate, main-stage version, ran as long as this season’s finale of The Bachelorette—but, unlike that prior piece of epic reality television, no single candidate emerged at the end with a bright red rose.

Previewing the CNN Debate

Eleven Republican candidates will face off tonight in the main debate on CNN, and four more who didn’t qualify for the prime-time event will be featured in the early “undercard” debate. There’s no shortage of advice for the candidates, suggestions on what to look for, or assessments of what they need to do to win.

Politico suggests that the candidate with the biggest stake in tonight’s debate is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker:

Scott Walker’s last best chance

Scott Walker needs to reassure his ... Read More >>

The early debates of a presidential primary campaign, though they take place months before the first nominating contests, are a powerful force in shaping the campaign, elevating some candidates while helping drive others from the race.