Republican Debate Scores 23 Million Viewers on CNN

It looked great on Television: Yes, presidential elections are not beauty contests, but ever since the infamously telegenic JFK walloped a sallow and sickly looking Richard Nixon in the first-ever televised presidential debates, it’s been an inescapable fact of politics: Looking good on TV can only help a campaign. CNN averaged 22.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings released Thursday afternoon.

It’s entirely bipartisan: While most associated with President Ronald Reagan, for whom it flew over six hundred thousand miles, SAM 27000 served as Air Force One under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

It’s precisely that sort of exchange that Tapper is hoping to trigger in Simi Valley – candidates going after candidates, and not so much a moderator going after candidates.

I’ll leave it to my colleagues over at Yahoo News to analyze the content of the debate; for me, evaluating it as a TV show-as programming scheduled by a news channel with the announced intent of enlightening the public-the CNN debate was a mess at once hectic and tedious.

Predictions about the ratings have varied. The prior record was an edition of “Larry King Live” in 1993, featuring a heated debate between Al Gore and Ross Perot, at 16.8 million viewers. But at only 8.3 million viewers, the 2008 audience was swamped by yesterday’s 20 million plus viewers who tuned in to see the Republicans battle it out. Fox News’ early debate last month drew 6.1 million. The events primarily appealed to political junkies. “Talent” was No. 2 in prime time.

Trump has taken credit for the entire ratings spike.

“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life and that’s a very big part of who I am”.

Tapper explained that the network’s decision to make the debate three hours long allowed all 11 participants to share their positions.

And for the networks that are holding debates, the surge means extra revenue from advertising.

While CNN has been live streaming events for many years, Wellen said Wednesday’s debates required more preparation than any of them, because of the expected surge of traffic.

In preparation for the debate, Paul tweeted a video Wednesday afternoon of himself firing a rifle at what appear to be boxes filled with a copy of the US tax code. The only difference in CNN’s approach will be an attempt to get more cross talk between the candidates.

It’s a big change from past campaign cycles.

Part of Dr. Ben Carson’s appeal has been his calm demeanor, which he maintained throughout an at times impressive performance in the first debate.

It turns out he’s Greg Caruso, a 24-year-old Los Angeles native and son of real estate magnate Rick Caruso, according to CNN. It is a signature exhibit at the library. Rand Paul got the least at 4:51.

Looking ahead to Wednesday, Tapper said he thought, “Let’s have as many of those as possible”. He shared a stage with 10 other candidates.

“This is what’s wrong with this debate”, Walker said.

It’s not just Fiorina’s face that has come under Trump’s attacks.

Check back here tonight for a running tally of how much air time each candidate is getting. And even though they won’t have complete tally until after the debate is finished, Hewitt said the RNC expects thousands of voters and potential volunteers to attend the gatherings.