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 Fiorina, a late addition to the second prime-time debate of the
2016 Republican White House race, made her presence felt as one of
Trump's strongest challengers in a crowded field anxious to pile on
the real-estate mogul and former reality-TV star.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush also frequently confronted Trump
and grew stronger as the debate wore on, sharply defending his
brother, former President George W. Bush, when Trump criticized the
war in Iraq.
With Trump shooting to a big lead in opinion polls, the other 10
candidates struggled at times to get attention on the crowded stage
barely four months before the first nominating contest for the
November 2016 election.
Unlike last month's first debate, when most of the contenders shied
away from directly challenging Trump, several of them engaged him in
sometimes fierce personal exchanges.
Reveling in the spotlight, Trump touted his business experience and
fired off insults, making a crack about U.S. Senator Rand Paul's
looks and declaring that former New York Governor George Pataki
"couldn't get elected dogcatcher."
But Trump drew a sharp rebuke from Fiorina for his recent comment in
an interview that voters might not back her because of her face. "I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr.
Trump said," Fiorina said, drawing applause.
Trump leaned toward her and replied: "I think she's got a beautiful
face, and I think she's a beautiful woman."
MOST TWEETED MOMENT
Twitter later reported that Fiorina's response to Trump on her looks
was the most tweeted moment of the debate. Facebook also registered
the exchange as its top social moment, and said Trump and Fiorina
were the top candidates discussed on Facebook during the debate.
Fiorina has been rising in the polls and was sharing the stage with
the leading candidates for the first time after a strong performance
in the first "undercard" debate for low-polling candidates last
month.
At one point, she noted Trump's companies had filed for bankruptcy
four times and asked, "Why should we trust you?"
 Bush, a frequent target of Trump's jibes for his "low-energy"
campaign, criticized the billionaire for his past friendliness with
Democrats and for trying to get involved in casino gambling in
Florida.
"He asked Florida to have casino gambling and we said no," Bush
said. Trump shrugged his shoulders dismissively and denied trying to
get into the casino industry in Florida. "Wrong... Jeb, come on."
Trump added: "More energy tonight? I like that."
Bush, an establishment Republican, has been overshadowed by Trump's
bomb-throwing rhetoric but had promised to be more aggressive in the
debate.
When Trump noted he was the only person on the stage who had
disagreed with the decision to go to war in Iraq, Bush leaped to the
defense of his brother, who ordered the invasion.
"He kept us safe," Bush said. Trump responded: "Do you feel safer
now? I don't feel so safe."
Trump also took aim at Paul, saying he did not even belong on the
stage because of his low standing in the polls. Paul, a senator from
Kentucky, criticized Trump for his "sophomoric" criticisms of
people's appearance.
"I never attacked him on his looks, and believe me there's plenty of
material there," Trump said.
A Reuters breakdown of speaking times in the debate showed Trump led
the way with more than 19 minutes, Bush was second with nearly 16
minutes and Fiorina was third with 13 minutes and 43 seconds.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was the least talkative candidate,
speaking for only 8 minutes and 30 seconds.
'CHILDISH BACK-AND-FORTH'
At one point, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, renowned for his
sometimes brusque and bullying style, derided the "childish
back-and-forth" and called on the candidates to be more substantive.
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Reuters/Ipsos opinion polling before the debate showed Trump leading
the 2016 race among Republicans with 32 percent. Retired
neurosurgeon Ben Carson was second at 15 percent. Bush was in third
place at 9 percent as his campaign struggled to take off.
Also debating in the main event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential
Library in Simi Valley were Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee and
John Kasich.
The Republicans disagreed on whether the government should be shut
down in order to cut funds for the women's health group Planned
Parenthood and condemned President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with
Iran.
Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, said the nuclear deal with Iran
should be ripped up, but Paul said it should be enforced because
Congress had not been able to stop it.
On Planned Parenthood, Kasich said it would not be worthwhile to
risk a government shutdown as some Republicans in Congress have
proposed in order to strip federal funding for the women's health
group.
"I would not be for shutting the government down, because I don't
think it's going to work out," Kasich said.
Cruz, who led the effort to shut down the government over funding
for Obamacare, said, "We need to stop surrendering and start
standing for our principles."
Before the prime-time encounter, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal,
Lindsey Graham and Pataki participated in the "undercard" debate for
those candidates who did not poll strongly enough to qualify for the
main event.
Jindal, the Louisiana governor, and Pataki, the former New York
governor, led the early charge against Trump.
"Let's stop treating Donald Trump like a Republican," said Jindal.
"He's not a conservative. He's not a liberal. He's not a Democrat.
He's not a Republican. He's not an independent. He believes in
Donald Trump."
Trump and Bush shared a moment of comity near the end of the debate
when each of the candidates was asked what code name he or she would
suggest the Secret Service use for them if they were elected
president.
"Eveready," Bush said, using the name of an American battery maker.
Looking at Trump standing next to him, Bush added: "It's
high-energy, Donald." As the audience laughed and applauded, Bush
and Trump, both smiling, slapped hands together.
Asked what his code name should be, Trump said "Humble" to further
laughter from the audience.
For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog, “Tales
from the Trail.” (http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/)
For a graphic on key points the candidates made in the debate, click
on http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/15/election-repdebate/
(Writing by John Whitesides; Additional reporting by Alana Wise,
Ginger Gibson, Luciana Lopez, Roberta Rampton; Editing by Howard
Goller)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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