Here's a montage of some of these gotcha attack questions last night from the debate.
JOHN HARWOOD: (echo) Is this a comic book version of a presidential campaign?
CARL QUINTANILLA: You want to bring 70,000 pages to three? Is that (crosstalk) using really small type? You've been a young man in a hurry ever since you won your first election in your 20s. Why not slow down, get a few more things done first or least finish what you start?
BECKY QUICK: Ms. Fiorina, your board fired you. I just wondered why you think we should hire you now?
BECKY QUICK: Bankruptcy is a broken promise. Why should the voters believe the promises that you're telling them right now?
BECKY QUICK: Senator Rubio, you've had issues. You have a lack of bookkeeping skills. You accidentally inter-mingled campaign money with your personal money. It raises the question whether you have the maturity and the wisdom to lead a $17 trillion economy.
CARL QUINTANILLA: Why would you serve on a company whose policies seem to run counter to your views on homosexuality? A company called Mannatech, with which you had a 10-year relationship. They paid $7 million to settle a deceptive marketing lawsuit in Texas, and yet you're involvement continued. Why?
JOHN HARWOOD: Mr. Trump says that he is capable of growing the economy so much that Social Security and Medicare don't have to be touched. Do you want to explain how that's going to happen, Mr. Trump?
JOHN HARWOOD: The leading Republican candidate when you look at the average of national polls right now, is Donald Trump. When you look at him, do you see someone with the moral authority to unite the country? (audience boos)
TRUMP: Such a nasty question.
Let's contrast that with the questions in the Democrat debate:
Dana Bash and Juan Carlos Lopez ask questions of the Democrats in their last debate.
ANDERSON COOPER: Secretary Clinton, though, with all due respect... ANDERSON COOPER: Senator Sanders, you call yourself a Democratic socialist. How can any kind of socialist win a general election?
ANDERSON COOPER: We're going to have a lot more on these issues. But I do want to just quickly get everybody in on the question of electability.
ANDERSON COOPER: Secretary Clinton, is Bernie Sanders tough enough on guns?
ANDERSON COOPER: Senator Sanders, what would you do differently?
ANDERSON COOPER: Is she too quick to use military force? ANDERSON COOPER: Senator Sanders, I want you to be able to respond.
ANDERSON COOPER: Who or what is the greatest national security threat?
ANDERSON COOPER: Secretary Clinton, with all due respect, do you want to respond?
ANDERSON COOPER: Do black lives matter, or do all lives matter?
ANDERSON COOPER: Secretary Clinton, what would you do for African-Americans in this country that President Obama couldn't?
ANDERSON COOPER: Senator Sanders, what are you going to be able to do that President Obama didn't?
ANDERSON COOPER: Secretary Clinton, how would you address this issue?
ANDERSON COOPER: Why is your plan better?
DANA BASH: Is that something that you would support?
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ: Secretary Clinton, Governor O'Malley wants to open up Obamacare to millions of undocumented immigrants and their children. Do you?
ANDERSON COOPER: Secretary Clinton, do you regret your vote on the Patriot Act?
ANDERSON COOPER: Governor Chafee, Edward Snowden, is he a traitor or a hero?
ANDERSON COOPER: Governor O'Malley, how would you be different than President Obama's administration?
ANDERSON COOPER: Secretary Clinton, how would you not be a third term of President Obama?
ANDERSON COOPER: Why should Democrats embrace an insider like yourself?
ANDERSON COOPER: Senator Sanders, are you tougher on climate change than Secretary Clinton?
ANDERSON COOPER: Secretary Clinton, do you regret your vote on the Patriot Act?
ANDERSON COOPER: Governor Chafee, Edward Snowden, is he a traitor or a hero?
ANDERSON COOPER: Governor O'Malley, how would you be different than President Obama's administration?
ANDERSON COOPER: Secretary Clinton, how would you not be a third term of President Obama? ANDERSON COOPER: Why should Democrats embrace an insider like yourself?
ANDERSON COOPER: Senator Sanders, are you tougher on climate change than Secretary Clinton?
There wasn't one gotcha.
There wasn't one question that even got near whether or not these people are qualified.
There aren't any characterizing of these candidates as buffoonish or as cartoonish.
There were no references to any of the negatives of any of these people.
Mrs. Clinton didn't get a question about her husband's philandering. She didn't get one question about her own questionable foundation with all of the dubious donations. The questions that happened on the e-mail discouraging were brushed over by Bernie Sanders.
This is what passes for tough questions of Democrats. What you just read, that's what passes as tough questions. That's as much as they will ever face. This is as tough a questioning as any Democrat candidate will ever face. By the way, Frank Luntz said that he has never had in his focus group of these people with their dials recording their responses as they hear things, he's never, never had anybody get anywhere near the territory that Ted Cruz got in audience approval when he finally got fed up with the line and nature of questioning last night and just tore into these assassins.
