Your GOP Primary Power Rankings: Debate Number 4

Marco Rubio (left) and Rand Paul (right) had a heated exchange in Tuesday night's fourth GOP Primary debate.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Mercifully, the Republican primary field is thinning, though not by the choice of any candidates. No, Mike Huckabee and Chris Christie have not dropped out of the race, they have simply been relegated to the kids table as the main event debate stage has been trimmed from 10 to eight participants.

Among the eight candidates left standing, outsiders Ben Carson and Donald Trump looked to extend their lead, while "establishment" front runners Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz hoped to position themselves for a serious run at the nomination. The rest of the field was in flux, but one seemingly lost candidate found his way Tuesday.

Find out who, and check out our Power Rankings below.

Your GOP Primary Power Rankings: Debate Number 3

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

The first GOP Debate was great television, the second was a marathon, and the third one left us all pondering one question: Why are ALL of these people still running?

Since we last left our heroes, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker has left the fray, but there are still 10 Republican hopefuls fighting it out on the big stage for the party's nomination (plus a few more polling at under 1 percent who were not invited to the big kid debate).

At the top of the polls sit a megalomaniacal billionaire who may actually be Lex Luthor, and our new leader, a brain surgeon who speaks like he has just been put under general anesthesia.

Basically, 48% of likely Republican voters are currently throwing in with two guys that have zero political experience, and have said some zany things these past few months, and that's in a poll where 13% of respondents said "nobody" or that they were undecided.

Maybe that's why every candidate is thinking, "if I can just hang around long enough until a few more people drop out, I'll have the chance to be heard, and then they'll realize I'm a better choice."

Unfortunately, everyone thinks that, and we still have an overly crowded field, where many candidates are parroting each other on most issues, then spending the rest of the debates engaging in sophomoric personal attacks. That's a problem.

Did I say problem? Sorry, I actually meant to say "amazing TV that simultaneously cracks me up and terrifies me."

Your GOP Primary Power Rankings: Debate Number Two

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Last night's GOP Primary Debate on CNN probably didn't live up to the first on FoxNews back in early August, but it did have its moments.

The big stories coming in were the surprising surge of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and the continued dominance of billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, along with the falls of "establishment" conservatives Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.

Carson had jumped from just 6% in the polls in late August to 23% pre-debate, and between his share and Trump's 27%, half the Republican primary voters favored a candidate with zero political experience. Throw in upstart Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP, and her 4%, over half the likely conservative voter base seems to not value experience at all when electing the highest office in the land.

Would these three "outsider" candidates keep their momentum in Wednesday's debate, or could one of the good 'ole boys get back into it? Find out in our Power Rankings below.

Ed. Note- We have stopped watching those silly JV debates and won't be ranking candidates that don't make it to the big dog stage. Deal with it.

Also, our poll numbers come from a CBS News/New York Times poll released Tuesday.

Your Post-Debate GOP Power Rankings

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Last night was the highly anticipated first Republican primary debate of the 2016 election cycle, and boy did it not disappoint. Donald Trump was in full-on "F-you" mode, Rand Paul pissed everybody off, Jeb Bush went back and forth between relatable and robotic, Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz appealed to their ultra-conservative bases and, somewhere in there, political points were made/earned.

I won't waste any more time with introductions. Here is where I rank the Republican presidential hopefuls after one debate.

Note that all poll numbers come from a CBS News poll of likely Republican voters conducted earlier this week. I have also specified which candidates took part in the 5 pm forum, rather than the actual 9 pm debate.