Donald Trump’s supporters apparently don’t mind if he loses debates
A New Hampshire poll shows the billionaire businessman’s support has not been swayed
Rumors of Donald Trump’s decline have been greatly exaggerated — at least in New Hampshire, said a new poll Wednesday.
According to WBUR/MassINC Polling, Trump is leading the Republican field, with 22 percent of likely Granite State primary voters, ahead of Ben Carson and Marco Rubio, both at 11 percent, and all other candidates in single digits. The margin of error for the sample was +/- 4.9 percent.
The poll found that 46 percent of the Republican primary voters preferred the next president to be someone “from outside the political establishment,’’ compared to 36 percent who prioritized “experience in elected office.’’
Trump’s New Hampshire numbers are up four points from WBUR’s last poll, taken two weeks earlier, while Carson’s support was down four points. Support for Rubio — off another strong debate performance, according to political oberservers — was up two percent.
The poll was taken November 14-15, four days after the fourth Republican debate, the only debate since WBUR’s last poll was taken. Wednesday’s poll found that 20 percent of voters thought Trump lost the November 10 debate, second-most only to John Kasich at 26 percent.
The Washington Post also gave Trump a low grade for his performance last week:
He at times attempted to present a more serious, subdued demeanor but was booed on several occaisions and frankly embarrassed when, for example, after his rant about the Trans-Pacific Partnership and China, Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) pointed out China was not party to the TPP. Jeb Bush likewise ridiculed Trump’s remarks on allowing Russia to fight the Islamic State, which Moscow isn’t actually doing. He even drew boos when he accused Carly Fiorina of “interrupting everybody.’’ Fiorina managed to needle Trump once again mocking his remark that he’d met Vladimir Putin on “60 Minutes.’’ (“Although I have met him as well, not in a green room for a show, but in a private meeting,’’ she icily observed.)
Indeed, Republicans who watched the debate had a significantly less favorable opinion of Trump than those who did tune in last Tuesday night. Among Republican voters that said they watched the debate, 41 percent viewed Trump favorably and 47 percent viewed him unfavorably; whereas those who didn’t watch the debate viewed him favorably 43 percent to 40 percent.
On the other hand, Trump supporters were the least likely to have actually watched the debate: 60 percent of those supporting or leaning toward Trump said they did not watch the event.
And those who were watching did not share the Post’s assessment; among voters that view Trump favorably and watched the debate, only one percent thought he did the worst job of all the candidates.
For candidates like Trump, perhaps the debates haven’t yet usurped the influence of New Hampshire voters.
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