We knew there was going to be fireworks. And we got them with no big surprises with The Donald in the house.

Donald Trump:

The debates started with a bang with Trump not agreeing to pledge to support the Republican candidate should he not make the nomination. Moderator, Megyn Kelly also challenged Trump and his temperament towards women and if it was that of a person with a desire to run for the office. Trump defended his brash behavior and remarks with “this country does not have time to be politically correct.” The challenging questions continued to keep Trump on his toes from his openly pro-life stance in 1999 to the 2009 bankruptcy of Trump Entertainment Resorts with Megyn Kelly finally asking him-“When did you actually become a Republican?” Trump continued with his bombastic behavior with a lot of the same strategies we have seen before-name-calling, finger-pointing and not a great number of solutions.

Jeb Bush:

As former governor of Florida, Bush called himself “Veto Corleone” for vetoing line items while in office. He is in favor of a 4% growth strategy and stated that the left’s new normal of 2% is dangerous with the net result yielding lower wages and fewer jobs. Bush plans to cut short the Iran Agreement and believes Obama abandoned Iraq. Bush stated a need to control our borders with e-verify, eliminating sanctuary cities and dealing with illegals who overstay their visas. He is in favor of a path to legal status and not amnesty. As former governor of Florida, Bush stands behind his pro-life stance; he defunded Planned Parenthood and ended partial-birth abortion in Florida. He also expressed his support for Common Core Standards in schools with educational curriculum reform at the local and state levels.

Scott Walker:

Walker stated that Iran was not a place to do business and is in favor of tearing up the Iran deal. He expressed his concern that our country is leading from behind right now and urged leading from the front and focusing on rebuilding and fortifying the relationship with Israel and our allies in the Middle East. Walker also stated his position of national security with this classic remark:
“Russia and China government know more about Hillary’s server than we do.”
He also agreed that an unborn child is in need of protection. Walker also is in favor of training law enforcement personnel from the beginning and throughout their employment. He stated that in terms of the Obama/Clinton era there has been “more mush than push.”

Mike Huckabee:

In favor of invoking the 5th and 14th Ammendment to the Constitution for an unborn child-that “the Supreme Court is not the Supreme Being”. He feels the military is not a social experiment and that the funding for sexual reassignment surgery for service members could be better spent somewhere else. Huckabee was eloquent in his expression that America has forgotten why we have a military. Huckabee is in favor of a consumption tax to fix the broken system. Huckabee compared Ronald Reagan’s “Trust, but verify” mentality to Obama’s “Trust and vilify” leadership. He stated “America is in trouble, but not beyond repair.”

"The military is not a social experiment. Their job is to kill people and break things" -Huckabee #GOPdebate

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) August 7, 2015

Ben Carson:

Carson was dinged on his lack of political experience-but he handled it well. The neurosurgeon stated that America did not become successful because of a bunch of politicians..that the most important thing a person can possess is a brain. He joked about having to separate Siamese twins and that he was one of the first surgeons to take out a half of a brain “but if you went to Washington someone may have beat him to it.” He stated that Hillary Clinton counts on the Alinsky model, the assumption that people are “useful idiots” and acknowledged that the progressive movement is causing problems. Carson believes that there is “no such thing as a politically correct war”, that we have weakened ourselves militarily.

The biggest (pleasant) surprise in tonight’s #GOPDebate was Ben Carson. #KellyFile

— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) August 7, 2015

Ted Cruz:

Cruz kept current on the subject of cyber attacks and he also provided direct plans: to rescind illegal and unconstitutional measures put into place by the Obama administration, prosecute Planned Parenthood, cancel the Iran deal and move to U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jersusalem. He stated that the United States will not defeat radical Islamic terrorists “as long as we have a president who does not utter the words ‘radical Islamic terrorists’.” Cruz proposed no amnesty for illegals.

Rand Paul:

Paul came out swinging as well. His quote of the night? “I don’t want my marriage or guns registered in Washington.” Paul is in favor of not funding ISIS and supporters of the caliphate. He believes Obama gave in to Iran too early in the game. Paul billed himself as “a different kind of Republican”

Rand Paul is punching everyone on the stage like Chuck Norris on crystal meth. #GOPDebate

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 7, 2015

Marco Rubio:

By the sounds of the recaps, Rubio is becoming a favorite with his calm demeanor and his future-focused mentality. He mentioned the 2016 election should not be a resume competition, for if it was, Hillary Clinton would be the next president. Rubio offered solutions for small businesses and entrepreneurs by evening out the tax code, building skills, repealing or replacing Dodd-Frank. He stated his pro-life position where life is protected by the Constitution. Rubio stated that he does not believe that Common Core should be a federal mandate and that educational curriculum should be determined on the state and local level. His final statement” “We’re blessed the Republicans have some very good candidates, The Democrats can’t even find one.”

John Kasich:

Kasich stated that Trump “struck a nerve” with the American public. He said that some politicians need to take lessons from Trump in being outspoken. He spoke out on economic growth and his experience in the private and public sector, balancing budgets. He also stated that the issues of gay marriage and religious liberty are planted to divide. That people should “love like God”-unconditionally. All in all, meh.

Chris Christie:

Christie focused on his economic improvements as governor in the State of New Jersey. He is in favor of increasing personnel numbers in our armed forces and focusing on our relationship with Israel is a top priority. The debate got heated between Christie and Rand Paul when Paul suggested that he “give Obama another hug.” Surprisingly, Christie did not unleash the Jersey on Paul and handled the remark with as much grace as he could citing his experience and strong ties to 9/11 and mentioned the other individuals he hugged on that day.

The countdown is on. Who do you think will take the White House in 2016?

Watch the #GOPdebate? Bet you feel like donating to a Democrat right about now. http://t.co/pGlQCqQgOP pic.twitter.com/QP1e0yObMf

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 7, 2015

Ummm, no.