SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
A raucous debate roils the field of Republican presidential candidates. The House gets a new speaker. The federal government gets a new budget, at least for two years. NPR senior editor and correspondent Ron Elving joins us. Ron, thanks so much for being with us.
RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you.
SIMON: This last Republican debate may have been the most contentious, at least between the candidates and the questioners. What do you see as the immediate fallout?
ELVING: Immediate fallout would be Jeb Bush's problem. He needed a revival, and he wound up looking worse than he had in the first two debates and out on the stump as well. The memorable punches in these debates tend to be counter punches. And Bush went after his one-time protege, Marco Rubio, and Rubio came back smart, fast, tough and got a highlight moment out of it, just one of several for Rubio, by the way.
SIMON: Now, at the same time, nobody's cast a single vote yet. Jeb Bush is sitting on a lot of money, and, of course, he has a name that's instantly recognizable. Is there really talk that this could be the end of his candidacy?
ELVING: It certainly looks like he has taken a fatal downturn, and he needs to turn his campaign around totally. And he needs to show us that he really wants it. He has the organization, the money. There is still time. There'll be more debates. He can do it if he really wants it, but he's got to show us that.
SIMON: A lot of talk about the way CNBC ran the debate. And as a matter of fact, the Republican National Committee has suspended its agreement with NBC for a later debate. How do you read this?
ELVING: Another effective counterpunch, really. Moderators had tough questions here. They were challenging, and they bordered at times on the insulting, contemptuous. The candidates were bristling at this. And then Ted Cruz really unloaded on it with a big screed about the mainstream media bias, and it brought down the house - very sympathetic audience, by the way. And all of the candidates started fighting back, things got unruly. And then after the debate, the candidates' staffs all complained to the Republican National Committee chairman, and he pulled the plug on NBC's contract. You know, we're going to have some - probably see some format changes here with regard to some of the other upcoming debates on other networks that the Republicans have contracted with.
ELVING: Regardless of any political motives, could the debate format stand some tinkering after we've seen three of them?
ELVING: Many people are dissatisfied with this format - all the candidates standing hour after hour, very little interchange, very little chance to discuss anything other than the questions of the moderators, which may or may not reflect what people really want to hear.
SIMON: House said goodbye to Speaker Boehner, hello to Speaker Paul Ryan. Will he be on any better terms with the conservatives who went after Mr. Boehner?
ELVING: He's certainly going to try to be. He's got a better generational affinity with rebels. And, you know, he shares more of their fiscal outlook in many ways. He made a good start by staying clear of this particular budget deal. But the budget deal should help him actually if he can get it fully implemented. The debt limit is lifted until March 2017, so no crisis there. And the budget deal slips the budget caps - spending caps. And that satisfies both parties, both the hawks and the domestic spenders.
SIMON: Is there any way this hard-won deal could come apart in the weeks ahead?
ELVING: It could. They still need to pass the actual formal spending bills that implement that before December 11, and we're going to see some riders attached to that - defunding Planned Parenthood or Obamacare - things that would force a veto from the president. So there could still be some drama before the holidays. But let's say Paul Ryan has a lot of momentum at this point and a lot of goodwill for now.
SIMON: Ron Elving, thanks so much for being with us.
ELVING: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
