A debate bump for Fiorina, but no Trump slide

This is in addition to the OAN/Gravis post-debate poll that showed her tied with Donald Trump nationally.

Most current college students first became familiar with Trump’s name from the bold, bronze letters emblazoning his name on buildings across the nation and his reality TV show, The Apprentice. He’s loud, brash, driven by instinct, focused on personal gain, shameless. They could care less about your careers.

After giving a strong performance in the second televised GOP presidential debate, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO has gained positive recognition and rising interest on social media. She came off as well briefed, detailed, confident, ready to fight and determined to make tough decisions.

“Last night I was very nice to her and some people thought I was being sarcastic”, Trump said.

With the Republican race so centered on Trump’s antics, Fiorina’s detailed answers on questions of foreign and domestic policy may help steer the tenor of the campaign away from personality and celebrity and back towards substance. She was firm but detailed in explaining how she would tackle some of the big campaign issues, she held her own against the others, and she delivered probably the most memorable comment of the evening when responding to remarks Donald Trump made about her face.

Before Wednesday’s event, CNN’s most-watched presidential primary debate was a 2008 Democratic gathering in California that attracted 8.3 million viewers. “They’re frustrated, they’re angry about the fact that the government doesn’t work, and I wanted to try last night to address them directly”, he said.

“It’s not only a double standard – it’s being politically correct”, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity, saying he was “very nice” to his surging rival. We don’t know if that’s going to happen with Trump.

“He just wasn’t as forceful and I think the other candidates understood how to get at him in a way that they hadn’t before”, Karlyn Bowman, a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, told Mashable.

“Every poll has me winning it”, Trump said afterward, citing a Drudge Report poll in which a majority of those participating said Trump was the victor .

HARRIS FAULKNER: He ought to send, actually I think, Donald Trump a thank-you note.

The only one who has a chance of coming out of the first debate was Lindsay Graham.