• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, December 16, 2015

Las Vegas, Nevada hosted the top nine Republican presidential candidates in last night’s prime-time debate, many of whom focused on trying to injure the Donald Trump momentum. National security took center stage, addressing the recent ISIL-inspired attacks in San Bernardino.

Former Governor Jeb Bush took hard shots at Trump. He pointed to a lack of foreign policy knowledge and pegged Trump as "unserious," while repeating his own plan for defeating ISIL and the Jihadist threat.

Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, as many expected, faced off in heated discourse over immigration, national security and privacy. Rubio once again proved his ability as a debater and reaffirmed his breadth of knowledge.

Ted Cruz was, however, heard the most out of any candidate with almost 16 minutes of talk time. Followed by Rubio and Trump, who both had about 13 and a half minutes, almost three minutes longer than the fourth-most-frequent speaker, Chris Christie.  

The Washington Post looked at Google search information during the debate. The results fit a trend: Viewers engage most online when candidates bring up personal information.

Noting a rise in Google searches during the Cruz-Rubio squabbles, Carly Fiorina’s opening statement collected the most interest when she spoke of the passing of her stepdaughter. Donald Trump, of course, had steadily above-average search interest.

Some candidates, reaching the end of their campaign lifelines, did the utmost to get minutes in and make an impact. Bush, while he may have had an above average night attacking Trump, has little chance of stealing or re-engaging support to bolster his measly 3% national standing.

Rand Paul, who barely made it into this debate, played all the offense he could from the edge of the stage, while Chris Christie tried to be the more relatable candidate by mocking the D.C. Senators and talking directly to the cameras.

The night was rife with the usual Obama-Clinton bashing. Chris Christie took a swing at President Obama, dubbing him a “feckless weakling.”

Nothing seismic seems to have happened during the CNN debate. Cruz and Rubio are solidifying their top-tier status and Trump continues to exude bellicosity and extreme confidence.

Trump wasn’t too happy with the questioning once again -- chastising Wolf Blitzer and his colleagues for using “sad” Trump-comment inspired prompts. What do you expect, Donald? You’re at over 40% in the polls — you're now the news.