•  Several candidates are running short of money. Rick Perry, for example, stopped paying his campaign staff. He is hoping that super PACs will keep him competitive till his campaign fundraising can regain traction. (Check this article.)
• Rand Paul was losing support before the debate, especially after two longtime advisers were indicted, triggering a falloff in fundraising that continues. (Article.)
• Scott Walker has shown declining support in post-debate polls and is now scrambling to shore up his fundraising and change his campaign message. (Article.)
• Carly Fiorina is the big winner of the debate, despite not being on stage in prime time. In fact, Fiorina’s rise caused concerns in the Nikki Haley camp, which decided to be a bit less coy about wanting VP consideration. (Article.)
• The campaign professionals do this for a living. They have bills to pay and mouths to feed. They are good at what they do and are looking for a campaign that will survive the inevitable winnowing down of the field. They are not looking for a candidate they agree with on issues or who excites them. They are jockeying for jobs with a campaign that has staying power.  (Article.)

Mike Huckabee has not caught on this time. His  campaign seems a little tired. The pros wonder: Does he have the “fire in the belly” this time?

Ted Cruz has a loyal following. He will continue as a national figure and a force within the Senate. But the pros think his message is too narrow and his knowledge of politics too parochial. In the end, voters almost always pick the candidate who can get things done. Cruz has a reputation for stopping things from getting done.

Ben Carson was impressive in the debate. He impresses the media following the candidates and voters are showing interest. But, to this point, his campaign can be summed up by Gertrude Stein’s comment about Oakland: “There’s no there there.” The pros have seen this many times before. Successful politics requires organizational skills. Carson shows too few signs of understanding that.

Lindsey Graham comes from South Carolina, a key state, but is not polling well there, much less nationally. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is interested in the VP spot and with her on the ticket, who needs Graham to carry South Carolina?

Gilmore thought he had time to make the case that he can win Virginia, where he was governor. He has shown in the past that he is a fast finisher. But he is a slow starter and may have run out of time already. Beside, squabbling in the Virginia GOP has some national Republican groups talking about writing off Virginia in 2016.

Those looking for somebody new keep returning to Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson. They are the flavors of the day with the media. But the pros know the media are fickle. The pros ask what states Fiorina or Carson might bring to the ticket in November 2016? The pros have been through this before.

They know that the American people are fed up with gridlock and the sense that Washington cannot get things done. Trump is playing into that frustration. Fiorina and Carson are, too, but with a more dignified, civil approach. Both are thoughtful, intelligent and reasonable people. But what can they bring to the party or to a ticket?

On the other hand, a Bush-Kasich ticket (or a Kasich-Rubio or Rubio-Kasich ticket) brings the hope of carrying two “must win” states next year.  Then, of course, Nikki Haley is a plausible vice-presidential candidate on any ticket.

As the pros settle in with campaigns, we will know more about which candidates should move toward the front of the pack and which are being carried by media attention.

As a long-time GOP fundraiser used to say, “Don’t tell me about the candidate. Tell me who is on the team. Who is on the payroll?”