Fiorina Jumps to Second Among GOP Contenders in New CNN Poll

Republicans think they may have found a possible female foil to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton after businesswoman Carly Fiorina shone in the conservative party’s second presidential debate. Or was the more conciliatory, less combative tone a sign that Trump is easing into his front-runner role and modulating his temper accordingly?

At one point Paul said, “I am anxious about having him in charge of the nuclear weapons because I think his response, his visceral response, to attack people on their appearance-short, bald, fat, ugly-my goodness, that happened in junior high. There was nobody that did poorly”, Trump said on CNN after stepping off the stage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. “Tell Gov. Bush why you’re a serious candidate“, he said. “This is a big, serious job and you have to have the skills necessary to lead“. And rounding out the field were Kentucky Sen. “The debate is really going to reshuffle the pack”. “It’s the same old shtick every time“. And he had an apology that his team tweeted right after. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at 1 percent. Together, these two non-politicians now hold the support of a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, and separately, both are significantly ahead of all other competitors.

“Well, he hasn’t been real definite about that, has he?”

It was the most tweeted moment from the debate. Trump slid down to 18 percent, while Ben Carson got 10 percent and the remaining 2016 presidential candidates got far less. “I think, hones-tly, it’s a gesture”, she said.

Fiorina’s favorable ratings saw a dramatic rise up to a 56 percent favorability rating from 37 percent in a poll conducted just before the debate.

The added prominence the debate has given Fiorina could mean more scrutiny on her facts. Bush and Rubio followed with 6 percent each.

Trump, meanwhile, continued to field questions about why he did not denounce a New Hampshire who said Muslims are “a problem” in the United States, accused President Obama of being one, and claimed there are Muslim terrorist camps in the United States. However, Trump still led the candidates in the amount of speaking time with over 19 minutes.

Polling is notoriously unreliable at this stage of a campaign and heavily influenced by name recognition.

The kinder, gentler Trump is an unusual turn for a man whose larger-than-life bluster and refusal to play by the usual rules of politics catapulted him to the top of summertime polls.

On Friday, Trump told The New York Times he was prepared to spend $100 million of his own money to win the nomination.