Ben Carson and Donald Trump close; Hillary

Marco Rubio emerged unscathed.

SMU College Republicans and Dallas Young Republicans gathered at The Social House Tuesday night to watch eight candidates take the main stage at the Fox Business GOP debate. He needed a breakout moment, and it didn't happen.

Mr Bush, the former Florida governor, said it would tear families apart and played into the hands of Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Which provided the opening that back-in-the-pack runners Jeb Bush and John Kasich needed to whack away at Trump's simplistic solutions to the nation's immigration impasse. Last night, Trump went into the discussion a bit more prepared after hiring a team of policy wonks to help him better articulate his position on issues, including the erection of a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border.

In his limited time, Bush aggressively criticized Democrats' leadership on the economy.

A highlight for Carson came when he was asked if his campaign has been hurt by inconsistencies and exaggerations in his own life story, given that his brand has been built on trust. "Hillary Clinton's coming for your wallet, everybody", he said.

But if Bush was good in Tuesday night's prime-time face-off, rival Marco Rubio was probably better.

There are three lanes now for candidates in this GOP field: outsider, insider and conservative firebrand. The Rubio campaign had released two years of spending reports just days earlier. Both favor a few sort of amnesty, or pathway to citizenship, for illegal immigrants already living in the United States. Rubio and Paul on defense spending and entitlements. Candidates have needed to either soar or slump to new lows in the debates to have an immediate impact.

Fiery exchanges between Trump and Kasich, Paul and Kasich, Cruz and Kasich and Rubio and Paul were among the memorable highlights.

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, entered the night with a plan to defend his record more aggressively. "I know that Rand is a committed isolationist". Carson struggled on foreign policy. Texan Cruz and Floridian Rubio continue to trail outsider candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson in the polls.

Trump essentially told the audience to trust him on economics. When pressed on how he could carry out the deportation of millions, Trump said “you’re going to have a deportation force, and you’re going to do it humanely.”Rubio said the government must deal with those here illegally “responsibly but realistically.” He said those applying to remain legally would have to pass a criminal background check, pay a fine and learn English, among other requirements.

He also backed off his criticism of Bush and Rubio nearly completely.

Even though Trump muddled his way through the debate, seemingly clueless that China was not even a party to the TPP trade agreement, GOP voters gave him a pass. He does after all promise to make America great again, and who doesn't want that? That will likely change soon based on another solid performance from U.S. Sen.

Earlier that morning, Trump used with much the same message, crowning himself the victor of the debate and lavishing praise on its moderators.

And it will only get harder to get voters' attention with the holiday season rapidly approaching and television airwaves getting filled with conflicting campaign ads.