In CNN’s post-debate coverage early Thursday of their 2016 Republican debate, CNN political commentator Michael Smerconish praised Carly Fiorina as possessing “a public speaking gift,” but lamented that she didn’t smile enough during the debate and should “loosen it up a little bit.”

Paul Begala tried to put the best spin on Hillary Clinton's sharp decline of support among women voters on Monday's Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, but even he was forced to admit, "If I were running her campaign, we would take this very seriously." Begala later added, "If I were coaching her – I'd hate to say this; she would hate this – watch Donald Trump....He talks about what he wants to talk about." The Daily Beast's Patricia Murphy gave a more blunt analysis: "These poll numbers are a disaster for Hillary Clinton."

During an appearance on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 on Tuesday night, CNN’s Paul Begala blasted Vice President Dick Cheney for blaming President Obama for the rise of ISIS. The Democratic strategist argued that Cheney’s comments were “a portrait of a political sociopath...I actually went and looked up on the Mayo Clinic website the definition of that disorder and it fits Mr. Cheney to a T, inability to ever express remorse, to admit error, manipulative, dishonest.” 

CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny had some fawning words during Thursday’s Anderson Cooper 360 for Vice President Joe Biden as he continues to mull a 2016 presidential campaign, referring to him as a “generally excellent” campaigner with an “authenticity that is really being craved in this election cycle.” As part of a segment on the possible run by Biden, host Anderson Cooper asked Zeleny to explain “what do we know about him as a campaigner” and “how much of his calculus right now is based on what he perceives Hillary Clinton's abilities as a campaigner or lack of abilities as a campaigner are.”

Speaking during CNN’s analysis of the first 2016 Republican presidential debate on Thursday night, CNN political commentator and former Obama White House adviser Van Jones panned Jeb Bush’s performance as “terrible” and “like oatmeal getting colder” but praised Ohio Governor John Kasich as “just unreal,” “emotional,” and an “authentic guy who cares.”