Saturday night's Republican debate in South Carolina gave us some of the most heated, fantastically ugly and frankly, entertaining, moments of the topsy-turvy GOP presidential primary to date.
Yet it wasn't a candidate who came out the winner after the six candidates on stage lobbed barbs each others' way.
Rather, it was debate moderator John Dickerson, the host of CBS' Face the Nation, who crisply and humorously kept the debate moving -- and the candidates in their places -- despite anger-fueled exchanges onstage and a feisty audience.
“That means please stop talking.”@JDickerson laying down the law. #GOPDebate— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) February 14, 2016
A running @jdickerson scoreboard:
Too-wide tie: -1
Neat George Washington quote: +1
Calling all the candidates out at the same time: +15— Jody Avirgan (@jodyavirgan) February 14, 2016
.@jdickerson tries to correct Cruz on Kennedy appointment, gets booed by audience for facts. #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/31bdGQoE7a— Mashable News (@MashableNews) February 14, 2016
Very sad to see @jdickerson revealing his obvious bias in favor of facts.— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) February 14, 2016
Cruz was wrong about Kennedy and 1988, @jdickerson was right, and that was super-awkward. #GOPDebate— Jeff Chu (@jeffchu) February 14, 2016
One of Dickerson's best moments of the night came during a fiery exchange between front-runner Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
When the two began arguing, with Trump calling Cruz a liar, Dickerson interjected with a quote your dad would say when your family would bicker during road trips.
"Gentleman, I'm going to turn this car around," Dickerson warned Trump and Cruz in an effort to move the debate on to other topics.
"We're in danger of driving this into the dirt," Dickerson later added.
.@jdickerson WILL TURN THIS CAR AROUND #GOPDebate https://t.co/pd2ACfc5Em— Mashable News (@MashableNews) February 14, 2016
Twitter was in agreement that Dickerson was masterful in both moving the night along, while allowing viewers to witness how heated the primary was getting.
Who won? John Dickerson. #GOPDebate— David Gura (@davidgura) February 14, 2016
Most articulate:
1) Dickerson
2) Rubio
3) Cruz
4) Jeb
5) Trump
6) Kasich
7) Carson— Nicholas Thompson (@nxthompson) February 14, 2016
The part where @jdickerson reaches discreetly into the breast pocket of his suit jacket and pulls out a Xanax #GOPDebate— Alexis Goldstein (@alexisgoldstein) February 14, 2016
John. Dickerson.
Thumb's up to @jdickerson for asking good questions. Often better than the answers. #GOPDebate— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) February 14, 2016
I nominate John Dickerson to moderate every debate.— Farhad Manjoo (@fmanjoo) February 14, 2016
America wants to buy @johndickerson a drink.— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) February 14, 2016
Can we just elect @johndickerson?— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) February 14, 2016