This Is What Frank Luntz’s Nevada Focus Group Thought of Wednesday’s Debate
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Pollster Frank Luntz conducted another of his focus groups for CBS News during the third and final presidential debate Wednesday night.
He tweeted the reactions of the group throughout the night, providing a type of analysis—from actual voters, not elitist “pundits”—you can’t find in the liberal mainstream media. Here are some of the key insights of the night:
- Surprisingly, Trump’s favorability index with the fully undecided voters dropped substantially when he was talking about appointing Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Even Trump-leaning voters in the group turned down their dials.
- On immigration, however, Trump won the debate handily, earning the support of 19 of the 26 panel members. Clinton earned the support of only two. When Trump talked about border security, his favorability index reached 75 (maximum of 100) with fully undecided voters.
- Clinton had her first “bad moment” when she began blaming Russia for the WikiLeaks email hacks, and then went on a rant about Vladimir Putin. Even her own supporters were turned off by the comments.
- After the first 30 minutes, Trump had the overall support of 12 panelists, compared to 10 for Clinton. As Luntz put it, “Clinton crushed the opening, but he’s won every exchange after.”
- Neither candidate got very high marks from the group when they discussed their economic plans. Trump’s lacked specifics, while Clinton’s is, more or less, a rehash of President Obama’s “stimulus” program.
- With the Nevada voters, Trump won overall on the economy by focusing on trade, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and job losses related to NAFTA. He also gained support by holding Clinton accountable for the Clinton Foundation and the State Department under her watch.
- During the closing statements, Donald Trump scored highest with his own supporters, as well as Clinton supporters. For a brief moment, he also scored higher with the fully undecided voters.
Click here to see all of the tweets, which include video of key moments of the debate.
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