As was widely anticipated, last Thursday’s Republican presidential debate was all about Donald Trump. The other nine candidates barely got a look in and the billionaire property dealer and television personality from New York swept all before him in the so-called “Rumble in the Rust Belt” – as the televised debate in Ohio’s Quicken Loan Arena has come to be known. His antics even dominated the post-debate analysis when he attacked the Fox News presenter Megyn Kelly for allegedly marking him out for specially had treatment during the debate.

Trump being Trump, he caused huge offence when he told reporters that Kelly “had blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever”, while questioning him during Thursday night’s debate. Yesterday the right took revenge for that misogynistic remark by banning him from attending the Red State Gathering, a major gathering of conservative activists.

Not that Trump will be concerned. This is a man who is so confident of his abilities that during the debate he said things which would have destroyed any other candidate. Not only did he agree that he gave money to politicians including Democrats in hope of getting a return but he refused to make a direct pledge to the Republicans, hinting that he might stand as an independent. Very few batted an eyelid when he introduced the name of Hillary Clinton into the debate not as an opponent but as a guest at his recent wedding because he had donated to her charitable foundation.

“Well, I’ll tell you what, with Hillary Clinton, I said be at my wedding and she came to my wedding. You know why? She didn’t have a choice because I gave.”

While comments of that kind will not upset Trump’s supporters, most of whom admire him for his bluntness, they will not necessarily encourage others to switch sides. The point was made by Karl Rove an aide to former President George W. Bush when he noted after the debate that he might have already reached a “ceiling” of personal support: “If you like Trump, that’s not going to necessarily turn you off but the issue is that 80% of the people are supporting somebody else.”

Because the debate was as more a television performance or reality show than a serious political event it was difficult to conclude if any candidate had actually lost. If anything everyone was a winner as the debate attracted a huge audience of 24 million viewers and for the most part it was briskly and intelligently handled. No one doubted that Trump had stolen the limelight but some of the other candidates on display would have left Cleveland feeling that their chances were still intact.

As the post-debate analysis continued across the US yesterday there was a widespread feeling that it was not even an opening shot and had settle nothing. Trump had gone into the debate the clear favourite and emerged with his reputation intact despite his spat with Megyn Kelly. Of the other early front-runners there was some disappointment with Jeb Bush’s performance – not because he did anything wrong but because he never looked like landing a knockout blow. Certainly he has given the Democrats nothing to fear in next year’s presidential election .As party strategist Donna Brazile pointed out in her commentary: “It’s a bunch of guys saying the exact same thing, and trying to impress people with how well they say it. This wasn’t a debate; it was an audition to remain viable until the next debate or forum.”

While most of the expected topics were cover off during the debate – medical care, immigration, big government – it was also noticeable that much as left unsaid and this too will give hope to the Democrats. There was no discussion of police brutality towards black people and there was only one mention of the much discussed movement Black Lives Matter when an off-the cuff question was pitched at Scott Walker shortly before a commercial break. Although illegal immigration was endlessly mentioned as a problem there was no room nor time to think about possible solutions or what should be done in the US with the existing “illegals”, thought to number over ten million.

It also has to be noted that all the candidates are male and this gives added poignancy to the politician generally thought to have been the real winner on Thursday night. Shortly before the main event there was an earlier debate of seven so-called second tier candidates. Written off as the “happy hour debate” it produced an outstanding winner in Carly Fiorina, a philanthropist and former business executive who not only pushed her own claims to be considered as a candidate but bluntly told the audience that she was the Republican to beat Hillary Clinton,.

“We need a nominee who is going to throw every punch, not pull punches,” she told the cheering audience. “Someone who cannot stumble before he even gets into the ring.”