Election 2016 roundup: feat. not Rick Perry -

Top News:

The second Republican Presidential Debate aired live on CNN Wednesday. Donald Trump insulted Rand Paul, who challenged Jeb Bush, who criticized Trump, who insulted Carly Fiorina…and then they talked about the issues. If you missed the actual debate, you can get a minute-by-minute recap here.
For a third (and possibly final) time, Senate Democrats have blocked legislation intended to kill the Iran nuclear deal with a 56-42 vote. Sens. Marco Rubio and Paul missed the vote after the GOP primary debate, while other presidential hopefuls Sens. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham voted with other Republicans. For the Obama administration, third time's the charm.
Bernie Sanders hosted a rally in Greensboro, N.C. on Sunday. He called for a political revolution — saying “enough is enough” — and covered a range of topics, from raising minimum wage to public education. Only five weeks into the semester, but I feel ya Bernie — enough is enough (is it Fall Break yet?).

Trump claimed the most airtime, followed by Bush, Fiorina and Carson, respectively. Trump also claimed, "I have a great temperament. My teperament is very good, very calm." So there's that.
Twitter declared #HotDebateGuy Gregory Caruso, 24, the real winner of the GOP debate. Seated directly behind moderator Jake Tapper, the University of South Carolina (still not the real Carolina!) alum turned into a Twitter sensation.

The real winner of last night's Republican debate? #HotDebateGuy http://t.co/jazdbnmDod pic.twitter.com/c25OFnQrPT
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 17, 2015

We could breakdown the top issues of the night, orrrrr we could show you this handy Word-Cloud NBC News compiled:

Democratic Candidate Breakdown:

Hillary Clinton: She must have been watching the debate on the edge of her seat, because she pounced on the first opportunity she had to make a statement. After Trump condemned Bush's use of Spanish on the campaign trail, Clinton tweeted out a handful of messages in Spanish.

After the debate last night, Clinton made an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Fallon wore a Trump wig and it was magical.

Bernie Sanders: Sanders raised $1.2 million after an attack by a pro-Hillary group. His poll numbers are also increasing. According to the most recent joint CBS and New York Times poll, Clinton’s lead on Sanders has been cut in half. She's still leading the polls with 47 percent of Democratic primary voters — down from 58 percent — while Sanders is has gone up 10 percentage points to 27 percent of voters.

Martin O’Malley: O’Malley sat down for a marijuana round table to discuss the effects of legalization of marijuana in Colo. on Thursday. He said he’s “not there yet” on outright legalization, just enough to take the edge off.

Republican Candidate Breakdown:

Carly Fiorina: As the only woman on stage, Fiorina held her own. When asked to respond to Trump’s “look at that face” remark, she handled it masterfully: “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.”

Pundits have declared her a clear frontrunner of the debate. #YGG

Jeb “Kush”: Admitted to smoking pot in high school. Sorry Barbara.

Keeping it in the family, Bush also defended his brother from Trump’s accusations that George W. ruined the Republican brand. “He kept us safe.”

Sorry Mom

— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) September 17, 2015

Ben Carson: Carson shut down Trump's position that childhood vaccines cause autism, with a scathing, "(Trump's) an okay doctor." The neurosurgeon-turned-presidential-candidate also condemned the scheduling of vaccines, saying that “we are probably giving way too many in too short a period of time.”

Donald Trump: A list of Trump insults from the debate, ranked:

"First of all, Rand Paul shouldn't even be on this stage, he's number 11, he's got one percent in the polls.”
“He wouldn’t be elected dog-catcher right now. I heard what he had to say” (on Gov. George Pataki).
“She can’t run any of my companies. That I can tell you” (on Fiorina’s business acumen).
"Almost everybody in Atlantic City is in trouble or filed for bankruptcy. Maybe I'll blame Christie."
"I never attacked him on his looks and believe me, there's a lot of subject matter there" (on Paul, again).

Well done, Trump, well done.

Marco Rubio: Pundits have praised Rubio for his on-stage approach to foreign policy, saying it set him apart from other candidates. During the debate, he also referenced his Cuban roots in response to Trump’s aforementioned dislike of my favorite Romance language. “If people get their news in Spanish, I want them to hear it from me, not a translator,” he said.

Scott Walker: Walker spoke to Glenn Beck Thursday and criticized CNN’s alleged predetermined narrative. “They were gonna say that Carly had a big night, no matter what, and obviously, they said that,” he said. Sounds like something Coach K would say (maybe the resemblance goes beyond just physical...?).

Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, et cetera: Still running for president.

Quote of the week:

"I'm Donald Trump. I wrote 'The Art of the Deal.' I say that not in a braggadocious way."

—Donald Trump (braggadociously).

Video of the week: