Opinion: GOP debate: The clock tells the story

Reporting from Washington —  Marco Rubio shone, and so did Carly Fiorina. Jeb Bush struggled to get a word in edgewise. Donald Trump groused that the moderators were too harsh. But Ben Carson had no complaints; he praised his opponents for observing Ronald Reagan’s eleventh commandment -- avoiding criticism of fellow Republicans.

If conservatives were hoping for a moment of illuminating clarity from Wednesday’s debate among the GOP presidential candidates on CNBC, they didn’t get it. The two-hour debate had the peculiar effect of diminishing candidates who once appeared to be front-runners – Bush and Trump – but elevating others: Rubio, Fiorina, even Chris Christie.

The clearest, most objective way to keep score may have been the clock. In a two-hour debate, with 10 candidates jostling for attention, a persistent Fiorina grabbed the most time, 10 1/2 minutes. Rubio, Trump and John Kasich were close behind, between eight and nine minutes each. In last place? Bush, who seized only six minutes of airtime all evening – hardly worth the trip to Colorado.

And when he did speak, Bush didn’t always take full advantage of the few seconds he had. He talked about his success at fantasy football (in response to a question about whether the federal government should do more to regulate that business). He reminded voters for the umpteenth time that he was a successful governor of Florida – a decade or more ago. He reaffirmed his faith that “the great majority of Republicans believe in a hopeful future.”

Bush did take one shot at rival Rubio for missing votes in the U.S. Senate. “You should show up for work,” he admonished his one-time protege.

But Rubio ignored the jibe. “I’m not running against Gov. Bush,” he said.

Instead, like many of his colleagues, he seized every opportunity to criticize Republicans’ two favorite targets: Hillary Rodham Clinton and the media.

“The Democrats have the ultimate super PAC,” he said. “It’s called the mainstream media.”

Trump agreed. “Hillary’s questions were certainly a lot easier,” he said, referring to the Democrats’ debate this month.

So at least there was consensus on that point.

But anyone who tuned in hoping that CNBC, a financial network, could force the candidates into clarity on the major economic issues of our time surely went away disappointed.

As did any Republican who hoped to discern a clearer shape to the party’s chaotic nomination contest. Bush, the one-time front-runner, appears to be fading. Trump, the media sensation of the summer, is running out of new things to say. But Carson, the new front-runner, was serene. And the other contenders – Rubio, Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Christie, Kasich, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul – don’t look as if they’re going anywhere. It’s going to be a long campaign.

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