The post-debate CNN poll reflects the Carly bounce that most people would have expected. She’s now in second. Rubio also got a bump. It’s Trump 24, Carly 15, Carson 14, and Rubio 11. We’re probably at the beginning, not the end of the Carly surge, and the CNN poll puts the lie to the notion out there that the media was determined to declare her the winner no matter what — 52 percent of Republicans thought she did best, far more than any other candidate. Another take-away from the poll is that Trump is not completely immune to the laws of gravity. He’s lost some ground and a strong plurality gave him the poorest marks of any of the candidates for his debate performance, another sign that Republican voters are evaluating him rationally. Trump also has the highest unfavorable rating among Republicans (followed closely by Jeb — Carson, Rubio, and Carly have the lowest). The shocker in the poll is that Scott Walker has descended all the way to an asterisk, an unthinkable result several months ago that speaks in part to how important the debates are.
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