The two-hour Republican debate format that Donald Trump and Ben Carson pushed for helped both candidates on Wednesday in Colorado, pollster Matt Towery told
Newsmax TV on Thursday.
"The allocation of time really left Ben Carson and Donald Trump in an interesting situation," Towery, chairman of the Atlanta-based InsiderAdvantage research firm, told "Newsmax Now" host John Bachman. "They were neither hurt nor helped by the debate.
"Trump might have been helped in the sense that he was able to be kinder and nicer and gentler," he added. "That might have actually helped a little bit.
"That's why you're seeing the numbers for Trump — in these online polls, at least — show him coming in first place."
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Overall, however, "Marco Rubio really put his own in good stead last night," Towery told Bachman. "He, clearly, on most of these social media polls is coming up.
"Ted Cruz held himself, because he was the first one to really go after the media and he'd seem to stand out in the minds of the public."
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