memeorandum: ‘Donald Trump Met His Match in Carly Fiorina’ (Kyle Kondik/Politico)

11:00 AM ET, September 17, 2015

Top Items:

The rest of the field figured out how to make Trump not quite as dominant — SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Something unusual happened here Wednesday when the Republican presidential candidates met for their second debate: For the first time since he joined the race, Donald Trump wasn't the commanding presence on the stage.

Discussion: US News, Politico, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, WIAT-TV, New York Times, BuzzFeed, Guardian, Political Wire, Washington Post and Business Insider

Matt Bai / Yahoo:

Jeb leaves a vacuum. Who fills it? — If you were in Washington watching the Republican debate last night, you might have felt a small tilt in the floor, or heard the plates rattling gently in their cupboards. — That was the sound of the Republican establishment shifting …

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:

Carly's Night — From the beginning of her campaign for president, Carly Fiorina has had to deal with lowered expectations, encapsulated in a frequent question: Aren't you just running for vice president? “People ask that because I'm a woman and I'm not a politician,” she told me earlier this year.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Vox, Slate, Horizons, Taylor Marsh, Real Clear Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog and CNN

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:

Trumped: His 14 most memorable debate lines — <p>Donald Trump did it again. After an explosive first debate in which Trump clashed with the moderators and stole the show, the bomb-throwing frontrunner came out swinging at the second Republican debate in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday.

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, Weekly Standard and Bloomberg.com news

Kyle Kondik / Politico:

‘Donald Trump Met His Match in Carly Fiorina’ — 18 political insiders pick the debate's winners and losers — ‘The candidate who made the least of his time was Scott Walker.’ — Wednesday's debate was historic in at least one way: It was the first presidential primary debate in the history …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, International Business Times and Talking Points Memo

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:

Who Won the Second Republican Presidential Debate? — What did the nation learn about the Republican candidates on Wednesday night? — First, viewers learned that the presidential contenders are delighted to take swipes at each other all night, if given the opportunity.

Discussion: Politico, CBS New York, CNN, New York Times and BillMoyers.com

Eli Stokols / Politico:

Trump fails to stampede GOP herd — <p>SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — For once, it wasn't all about Donald Trump.</p><p>While the billionaire businessman continues to dominate the polls, he took serious heat from all sides during the second Republican presidential debate here, with Trump's rivals managing …

Discussion: ABC News, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice and Bloomberg Business

New York Times:

Candidates Use Second G.O.P. Debate to Taunt Donald Trump — SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Determined to prove their mettle, several Republican presidential candidates showed new aggressiveness in lacing into Donald J. Trump on Wednesday night, using their latest televised debate to shame …

Discussion: Power Line, Vox, Outside the Beltway, Fox News, Politico, The Atlantic and Guardian

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
A Trump lie: He tried to expand casino gambling in Florida

Discussion: Bloomberg Business and JustOneMinute

Washington Post:
Wednesday's GOP debate transcript, annotated

Discussion: The Pulse 2016, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Shakesville, Hit & Run, Common Dreams and Mashable

Andrew Romano / Yahoo:
This is the way Trump ends — SAN PEDRO, Calif. — It had all the makings of A Moment.

Discussion: Reason, Liberaland, Washington Post and Betsy's Page

Katie Glueck / Politico:
GOP insiders: Carly crushed it

Discussion: Washington Post and Mock Paper Scissors

James Nash / Bloomberg Business:
Long Shadow of Donald Trump Dominates Debate He Missed

Discussion: The Hill, Hot Air and Politico

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Ben Carson's shockingly weak debate performance

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico and Betsy's Page

Elizabeth F. Ralph / Politico:
‘Look in the Mirror, Fat Boy’

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo and Wall Street Journal

John Harwood / CNBC:
10 questions for Carly Fiorina

Discussion: The Hill, Business Insider, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Philly.com, Slantpoint, Jezebel, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog and Talking Points Memo

Rick Wilson / Politico:
It's Time to Declare War on Donald Trump

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Brody File, ABC News and CNBC

Ricochet:
The Debate We Were Supposed to Have

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico and Instapundit

Arit John / Bloomberg Business:
To paraphrase the stars of the cutthroat reality TV competitions …

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider, ABC News and Bloomberg.com news

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

Biden-Warren in 2016? — Until now, my position regarding the 2016 campaign has been to support Hillary Clinton for president and to be extravagantly friendly toward Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his supporters, who embody the heart, soul and idealism of the Democratic Party at its best.

Discussion: Politico

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Hillary Clinton Is Stuck In A Poll-Deflating Feedback Loop — It's the candidates who play the long game, and play by the establishment's rules, who usually win presidential nominations. Political parties have lots of ways to influence the race in favor of these candidates …

Discussion: NewsBusters, Bloomberg View and Instapundit

Sarah Kliff / Vox:

Carly Fiorina is wrong about the Planned Parenthood tapes. I know because I watched them. — Carly Fiorina gave a harrowing description of the Planned Parenthood sting videos at Wednesday's Republican debate. She challenged Barack Obama to watch “a fully formed fetus on the table …

Discussion: American Prospect, Slate, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Refinery29, The Federalist and Mediaite

Monica Hesse / Washington Post:
Planned Parenthood is a symbol. This is the reality of one Ohio clinic.

Discussion: The Daily Signal, LifeNews.com and The Federalist

The Hill:

Obama invites suspended Muslim teen to the White House — A Texas teenager who was suspended from school for bringing a homemade clock to class received a 21st century invitation from President Obama on Wednesday to visit the White House. — Instead of making a traditional phone call …

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, The Federalist and Dallas Morning News

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. / BREITBART.COM:
White House Invites Several Opponents of Catholic Teaching to Greet Pope Francis

Discussion: Religion News Service, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, LifeNews.com, Naked Politics and Bloomberg Business

KDFW:

Lewisville Whataburger employee fired for not serving officers — LEWISVILLE, Texas - A Whataburger employee has been fired after turning away two North Texas police officers from a Lewisville location. — Officers Michael Magovern and Cameron Beckham were working off-duty security …

Discussion: Consumerist, Texas Monthly, Daily Mail, Christian Science Monitor, WQAD-TV, The Daily Caller and Fox News Insider

Alex Griswold / Mediaite:
Texas Burger Joint Under Fire For Refusing to Serve Police Officers

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Daily Mail, BizPac Review, The Daily Caller and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Milo Yiannopoulos / BREITBART.COM:

Sexbots: Why Women Should Panic — Sex with robots will be ‘the norm’ in 50 years, say experts. Men are considering the prospect with curiosity and a sense of humour. But academics and feminists are terrified and calling for them to be banned. Let me tell you why.

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh and Joe.My.God.

Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook:

You've probably seen the story about Ahmed, the 14 year old student in Texas who built a clock and was arrested when he took it to school. — Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest. The future belongs to people like Ahmed.