For the Record: Yet. another. debate.

View this email in your browser Brought to you by USATODAY.com Happy Friday, For the Record friends! Thursday night marked yet another #GOPDebate , and we of course tuned in so you didn't have to. What did you miss? CNN's Wolf Blitzer losing control of the men who are vying to be leader of the free world, Ben Carson making people wonder about what kind of fruits make up their salad-like lives (we think we are a good mix of pineapple and strawberries) and Ted Cruz actually complimenting Marco Rubio for taking on their shared archenemy. It's a crazy world out there. Let's get through it together. You make me wanna shout Was it just us, or was Thursday night more shout-y than usual? Blame the fact that the Donald has won three contests in a row. Point to Super Tuesday, now just four days away. Acknowledge that with Jeb (insert sadface emoji in place of exclamation point here) Bush out of the picture, Rubio's now the conductor of the establishment train. Whichever reason you pick, it cannot be denied: tensions were high and it was prime time for attacks. This resulted in the night's odd couple: Cruz and Rubio. Together, they ganged up on Trump on immigration and health care and his watch-making abilities . "Marco is absolutely right," Cruz said at one point, after Rubio blasted Trump for hiring illegal Polish workers (sidenote: PolitiFact did Google it). Of course, their Oscar/Felix impressions simply increase the impending awkwardness. It's becoming increasingly clear that their shared goal of keeping Trump from winning the GOP nomination won't be possible unless one of them drops out. And neither is giving in just yet. Guess we'll wait to see what happens Tuesday. The Carson conundrum Look, we're just going to say it. We've wondered for weeks when Ben Carson was finally going to throw in the towel. He's the only candidate left who hasn't been in 1st or 2nd in the first round of caucuses and primaries. Despite this, he pushed onward at Thursday's debate, talking about the "fruit salad" of life when it comes to Supreme Court nominees (what do you think Chief Justice Roberts' fruits are?) and clamoring for some speaking time ( he really did get the least amount of time to talk than anyone else on stage). "Can somebody attack me, please?" may be the defining sentence of his campaign. But asking for more attention is basically a nail in your campaign's coffin. Just ask Martin O'Malley and Jim Gilmore. Might be time to head home and grab some clean laundry for good, Ben. Oh yeah, John Kasich was at the debate, too And he did point out that in our(!) poll with Suffolk University, he was beating Hillary Clinton. That's true. It's also true that in the other hypothetical general election matchups of this poll, she would lose to Trump (who also mentioned this poll during the debate ), Cruz and Rubio. To be fair, Kasich did the best of the bunch. More from the campaign trail • In which Mitt Romney pokes his head out of a hole briefly to talk Trump's taxes (USA TODAY On Politics) • The latest on Hillary v. Bernie: She's leading him by 50 points in the latest S.C. poll (The Greenville [S.C.] News) • Hundreds feel the Bern in Flint (Detroit Free Press) • A surprising turn of events: Mexico has no f-ing desire to pay for Trump's wall (USA TODAY On Politics) Debate dance party We've accepted that our lot in life is to watch debates until the end of time (or, you know, for much of this year). So why not liven it up by having a debate dance party? We've thought this for a while (though this Weird BuzzFeed Vine helped push the idea long). Look for the playlist on March 3, when the Republicans meet once more in Detroit. Invite others to enjoy newsletter. Thank you for subscribing to the . Got some feedback, a tip or just want to say hello? Email us at newsletters@e.usatoday.com. USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Unsubscribe from the Why did I get this? Update my subscription preferences USA TODAY 7950 Jones Branch Drive McLean, VA 22102

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