Poll finds second GOP debate had a clear winner and two candidates who did well



The second Republican primary debate on Wednesday had many detractors online, but one poll says there was a clear winner and two other candidates who did well.

The 538/Ipsos/Washington Post poll found that among those Republican primary voters who watched the debate, a plurality of 33% said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won the debate.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley came in second place, with the support of 18% of GOP primary debate watchers, while Vivek Ramaswamy garnered the support of 15% of debate watchers. None of the other candidates received more than 6% in the question about who won the debate.

A majority of debate watchers, 54%, said DeSantis had a performance rating of good or excellent for the debate.

While Ramaswamy did comparatively well, he did far better, according to a poll, in the first debate, when 26% said he won the debate.

When Republican primary voters who watched the debate were asked if the debate changed the candidate they were supporting, very few said it made much of a difference. None of the candidates had a change in support of over 3%.

Former President Donald Trump was notably absent from the debate, and he was criticized most especially by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for refusing to appear and defend his record. Christie had perhaps the most colorful epithet of the night when he nicknamed the former president "Donald Duck" for avoiding the debate.

Trump is far and away the leading candidate with the most support in the Republican primary.

The third debate in the Republican primary campaign is scheduled for November in Miami, Florida. Trump is likely to skip that debate as well.

Here's more about the second GOP debate:

GOP & Fox News Are DEAD: Glenn Beck Reacts to 'WORST' Presidential Debate | Glenn TV | Ep 307 www.youtube.com

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Who won the first GOP primary debate? Here's what conservatives are saying



The first Republican primary campaign debate concluded Wednesday evening, and since then, countless voices have weighed in on who won and who lost the first battle of the 2024 election.

Here's what conservatives said across the right side of the political spectrum.

Glenn Beck, the founder of Blaze Media, said the debate had two winners, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and concluded that the primary race was now between those two candidates and front-runner former President Donald Trump.

Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire offered an assessment that had former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley winning in overall debate performance, with Ramaswamy coming in second.

"The only candidate who really helped herself was Haley, who may have begun consolidating support from both Pence and Scott (what there is of it)," said Shapiro on social media.

Mark Levin, the BlazeTV host of "LevinTV," was very dismissive of Pence's performance.

"My view last night and this morning is that Mike Pence was more Chris Christie than Chris Christie. That is, he was loud, overbearing, constantly going over his time limit and interrupting others, and egocentric. I thought he was easily the worst on the stage," wrote Levin on social media.

"And his constant reference to 'Trump-Pence' successes, while trashing Trump, was precious. He was vice president, whose job is to stand behind the president and smile a lot, which he did very well. As for the demand that everyone bow to his conduct on January 6 was pretty pathetic," he added.

Levin had positive notes for Ramaswamy.

"Vivek was very entertaining and highly skilled at dropping a few bombs here and there and making promises he will not be able to keep -- and several contradictory points he made, including about climate change (months ago he said it exists and man contributes to it, last night he dismissed it altogether, etc.)," Levin wrote.

He went on to deride Chris Christie for even appearing on the stage.

"I don't see any lane for him, I don't see any reason for him," said Levin.

Levin noted that Nikki Haley did well but that she didn't talk about her eight-year record as governor of South Carolina.

Others, like Matt Walsh, said the debate didn't matter at all.

"The debate basically doesn’t matter at all and nobody will remember a single thing that happened by tomorrow. That’s my debate analysis," he wrote on social media.

Larry Elder, the California talk show host and candidate who was denied space at the debate, said simply that Trump won the debate by refusing to appear. Actor Kevin Sorbo agreed with that assessment.

Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News anchor, lambasted the debate as boring and criticized the inclusion of long-shot candidates.

“With no clear winner, the winner was Trump. Nothing happened to change the dynamic of this race tonight,” she concluded.

Candace Owens called it a victory for Ramaswamy only because he spoke out against U.S. funding of the Ukrainian War.

A panel on Fox News said Ramaswamy won, with comments describing him as "exciting" and "genuine."

Talk radio host Erick Erickson told Fox News that DeSantis won by staying out of the fights during the debate.

"I think DeSantis did, because no one took him out, he stayed above the fray, he answered questions, kinda led the stage to a degree there from the center, refusing at one point to raise his hand on climate change," said Erickson.

"Let’s be clear," said attorney and commentator Kurt Schlichter. "DeSantis was alone in one debate, and everybody else was in another, more annoying one. Calm, confident and capable. DeSantis won."

Talk radio host Dana Loesch also called the debate a victory for DeSantis.

"He didn’t damage himself and looks to have attracted some independents without compromising his positions," wrote Loesch.

One poll of debate watchers found that a plurality said DeSantis won the debate, with Ramaswamy in close second and Haley making gains into third place. Trump meanwhile garnered millions of views by ignoring the debate and sitting down for an interview with Tucker Carlson.

Here's more about the first GOP primary debate:

Mark's Opening Remarks - 8/24/23 www.youtube.com

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Poll finds two big winners of the GOP debate, with a third making gains



A poll found that the main competitor to the front-runner in the GOP primary campaign won the Fox News debate on Wednesday, while two others made significant gains.

The results were reported by the Washington Post a day after the contentious debate that former President Donald Trump choose to ignore.

Of the eight Republicans who took the stage, 29% of the respondents to the WaPo poll said that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was the clear winner.

A close second was entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who won over 27% of the respondents.

In third place came former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got the support of 15% of respondents.

Only 7% said former Vice President Mike Pence won the debate, while none of the four other candidates received over 4% support.

Ramaswamy might have benefitted from the spotlight after being targeted for rhetorical attacks from several candidates including Haley, who received great support from the audience for her criticism of the entrepreneur.

Support for Haley's presidential campaign grew the most as a result of her debate performance. Prior to the debate, 29% of Republicans said they were considering voting for her, while post-debate, 46% said they were considering voting for her.

However, overall, DeSantis still has the most support of all Republicans when they were asked if they were considering voting for him: 67% said they were considering voting for DeSantis after the debate, while 61% said they were considering voting for Trump after the debate.

Trump snubbed the Fox News debate and instead sat down for an interview with Tucker Carlson that was published minutes before the debate began. That interview garnered more than 242 million views on Twitter, now rebranded as X, but some have cast doubt on how the application counts views.

Here's more about the GOP debate:

Glenn Beck REACTS to Who Won and Who Lost the First GOP Debate www.youtube.com

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