Who Won the Republican Debate February 2016

The republican debate in South Carolina turned ugly on Saturday night with just one week left until voters in the key state go to the polls.

The candidates repeatedly clashed and threw accusations back and forth, the audience also chimed in regularly booing. Trump called Cruz a "liar" and "a nasty guy" as the Texas senator took aim at the current frontrunner. Trump also called into question the validity of the Iraq war, sparking a heated argument with Jeb Bush.

It would be hard to pick a winner in the debate, but Trump will probably be less concerned at the course of the debate took as the other candidates and audience seemed to gang up on him and reinforce his narrative of being the anti establishment candidate, also Trump's combative ways are no secret and our actually what has endeared him to many voters sick of establishment politics. He did risk alienating some of his base who are fiercely opposed to Planned Parenthood saying "it does do wonderful things" but swiftly added "not as it relates to abortion".

Cruz also attacked Trump's liberal record saying "his entire life he's supported liberals from Jimmy Carter to Hilary Clinton to John Kerry", adding "in 2004 he contributed to John Kerry".

Ben Carson who a few months ago saw a surge and was the main contender to Trump, seemed lost within the debate whereas Kasich attempted to portray himself as a more serious candidate focusing on the issues as the chaos unfolded.

Rubio had a few tussles with Cruz early on but the moderators seemed to give him an easier time.

Hard to pick a winner from the debate, Carson would probably be the loser but due to his low numbers he has already become somewhat of an irrelevance.

Latest News Elections United States 25 January 2016

The process to replace Barack Obama in the White House is underway and it starts in 7 days time with the insurgent candidates confident of upsetting the status quo and the establishment on the defensive. Next week the Iowa caucuses take place.

A mere 8 days later it will be the turn of New Hampshire to cast their votes, as far as the democrats are concerned it is a two horse race between Cliton and Sanders, with the later gaining significant ground, according to polling in the last few weeks.

On the republican side businessman Donald Trump continues to dominate the race, despite Ted Cruz gaining ground over the last month or so.

Can Donald Trump win the Presidency in 2016?

Donald trump`s campaign has hitherto been a masterpiece in the art of defying the odds, pundits who last year were mocking and deriding the maverick billionaire have now been forced to concede he has a real chance of obtaining the republican nomination. He has completely dominated the political agenda, raising issues others shy away from, for fear of alienating parts of the electorate or appearing to be politically incorrect.

Other candidates within his party adopted the tactic of counterattacking, lying in wait in order to pounce open a word, statement or action that will prove his undoing. Jeb Bush who was the favorite of the GOP but is currently way down the field, has taken numerous swipes at Trump`s policy on immigration but all to no avail as of yet.

Ted Cruz has seen a large increase in support over the last month or so, as many voters may see him as a candidate with conservative views but not as polarizing as trump and thus more able to defeat the democrats. The political landscape still seems erratic and anything is possible especially as the primaries draw near, however at the current time Trump is favorite to be the republican nominee.