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First poll after GOP debate shows Trump still leading, but Fiorina gaining

“I am extraordinarily concerned about the direction of this country, the divisiveness that’s going on, the fiscal irresponsibility, the failure to take a leadership position in the world“, said Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson. For other candidates, fundraising will consume the rest of the month ahead of the looming September 30 deadline for reporting their money totals to federal regulators.

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Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who attacked Trump’s temperament during the debate, said voters are getting exhausted of Trump’s “silliness” and “sophomoric kind of jabs”. Of the 2,200 conference registrants, 785, or about one-third, participated in the straw poll.

Trump said if he had challenged the voter, the media would have accused him of interfering with the man’s right of free speech. “Are we not above that?”

Does any candidate outside of my top six have anything in his debate arsenal we haven’t seen yet?

“They address everything but actual American problems”.

The legalization of marijuana made the list of discussed topics, though.

Another debate victor is Sen. The candidate followed Trump in amount of talk time with just over 15 minutes.

Rubio’s rise signals that the more moderate, establishment wing of the party may begin considering him, or Fiorina, as an alternative if Bush doesn’t get his act together very soon.

Fiorina and Marco Rubio were the winners, at least according to the people I follow on Twitter. They’re deciding who gets on the stage.

Firstly, Carly Fiorina – the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive who fought her way into the event on a wild card – is a fierce combatant, one whom other candidates will likely tackle with some care from here on in.

Fiorina gained after a strong debate performance in which she icily skewered the brash real estate mogul for disparaging her looks in comments reported by Rolling Stone magazine. Fiorina during the debate showed a command of subject matter, rattling off names and details as part of what seemed a clear strategy to showcase her knowledge and contrast it with Trump’s. The big question for Carly Fiorina is, will it benefit her?

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5) CNN generally did a good job running its first debate of the campaign, with a couple of quibbles: Trump took up too much of the official time allotted, at least until he sat out the serious policy discussions.

Ben Carson