This was Fiorina’s first appearance on the main stage after excelling at the warm-up debate in Cleveland last month.
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Perhaps all it takes is to put Donald Trump in his place, even if that place is still first.
And he was on the receiving end when Carly Fiorina drew huge applause, facing up to his recent jibe over her looks.
Which brings me back to my original question, don’t we, the voters, deserve a real debate?
Now, traditionally, GOP voters do buckle down after the summer. “They’re not going to decide this election”.
At the South Peninsula Area Republican Coalition’s party in Los Altos Hills, a stone’s throw from where Fiorina lived before moving to Virginia in 2011, a straw poll found Trump was the favorite before the debate, but Fiorina came out on top when it was over. “Are there still that many candidates that justify a second debate on debate night?” This is her highest support in any national poll this cycle.
Voters might still adore Trump’s brashness and his outsider style, but his endless claims to greatness risk wearing thin. Her answers were crisp. “She was passionate and tough”. She told a very affecting story about her stepdaughter’s death from drug abuse. Chris Christie may have thought Ms. Fiorina annoying and rude, but in retrospect, can anyone blame her? Bush had an unfavorable rating of 38 percent, second to Trump, though also was in positive territory with a favorable rating of 49 percent.
“I don’t like the name calling”, Cockerill said. I don’t think it helps to change our history. It’s almost as if he was questioning Jeb Bush’s manhood. It was his audience last night.
For the most part, Trump was Trump Wednesday night, strangely insecure but as unsafe as a schoolyard bully. “As people come to know me and they understand who I am and what I’ve done and, most importantly, what I will do, they tend to support me”. Abortion is legal in the USA , but it remains controversial.
GWEN IFILL: The attention turns now to the Democrats.
Many Republican candidates also targeted Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate. Just 10 percent viewed him unfavorably.
SIEGEL: And Fallon does a good Donald Trump, so we could be seeing a lot more of that as the…
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His unexpected rise and surprising durability is seen as a reflection of voters’ frustration with Washington and career politicians.
