Despite early criticism for utilizing a poll from a less-than-respectable firm that pushed Lindsey Graham out and demoted Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee to the undercard stage, the Fox Business Network received record ratings Tuesday night when 13.5 million viewers tuned in for the fourth primetime GOP presidential debate.
There was a remarkable difference between this debate and the pervious one hosted by CNBC in terms of the quality of questions posed and candidate responses. Moderators – Neil Cavuto, Maria Bartiromo, and Gerard Baker – focused their questioning mainly on taxes, but also included such topics as domestic job growth, entitlements, foreign policy, and Wall Street/banks.
With only eight candidates on stage, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump had more time to present their economic policies and rebut most challenges. While pundits and voters could not agree on one winner, there was consensus on who did not have a good night – Gov. Kasich. A focus group of New Hampshire Republicans agreed, giving him the least favorable reaction ever recorded in a Frank Luntz focus group. Such news must be troubling for the Kasich campaign as the governor had risen to fourth place in the Granite State leading up to the debate.
Because there was no major “breakout moment” or serious gaffe made, Carson and Trump continue as the field’s current frontrunners.
The remaining 2015 debates include:
- November 14 – Democratic Debate hosted by CBS, KCCI, and the Des Moines Register (Iowa)
- December 15 – Republican Debate hosted by CNN and Salem Radio (Nevada)
- December 19 – Democratic Debate hosted by ABC and WMUR (New Hampshire)
For more information, please contact David Ashinoff at ashinoffd@agc.org or (202) 547-5013.