Trump's Implosion in the Debate was Breathtaking to Behold.

[stevenleser]

Frank Luntz' focus group of grassroots Republicans went from overwhelmingly pro-Trump to absolutely despising him.

I was tweeting during the debate that Trump's performance was a disaster but you never know for sure how Republicans will see things.

[virtualobserver]

1. was it the pledge issue?

[stevenleser]

5. That started him on a very bad note and he had several more really bad moments.

But absolutely, none of the grassroots folks from either party like folks who threaten to run as an independant and potentially throw the race to the other guys.

The exchange he had with Megyn Kelly about bad names he has used for women was probably his second worst moment.

[virtualobserver]

7. doubling down by attacking Megyn was a stroke of non-brilliance

[stevenleser]

9. DW Shultz was just on before I turned it off noting that no Republican candidate chastized Trump for

that exchange, none of them spoke up for women then or at any other time.

[virtualobserver]

11. they were powerless to respond....there was no mention of women in their prepared materials that....

didn't involve taking rights away.

[ecstatic]

25. Good point nt

[monmouth4]

2. That is very interesting. n/t

[C_U_L8R]

3. I love his pout.

And spray on tan.
He so Republican.... It awesomely bad.

[Arugula Latte]

21. I know we're not supposed to comment on people's appearances, but

Jesus H. Christ on a rubber crutch. He is one butt-ugly mofo.

[NJCher]

4. yep

The big tank was when Trump wouldn't say that he would support the Republican nominee.

Luntz, for those of you who weren't watching, showed a graph that showed a plunge in how they thought of Trump when he said he wouldn't commit.


Cher

[tblue37]

19. A lot of the Republican base are truly angry at the party's establishment.

Those voters probably wouldn't blame him for that stance.

[yuiyoshida]

6. I saw your tweets...

Almost tweet "Hi" ... I couldn't watch the debate, so I listened to KNBR and the Giants game... I wondered where all my fellow giants fans were tonight.. Everyone was tweeting about the debate. most of the funny stuff came though there...I had a few good laughs, despite the giants losing tonight.

[jberryhill]

8. I wouldn't put too much stock in Luntz's menagerie

Trump didn't do anything that anyone wouldn't have expected him to do.

[tblue37]

18. Luntz's focus group probably had a preponderance of ringers. nt

[herding cats]

10. Really?

I'm surprised to hear that. That means the Koch's were the big winners tonight if they took down Trump. That's interesting.

[stevenleser]

13. Except Walker really didn't come across well either. Kasich, Rubio, Carson and Jeb helped themselves

tonight. Christie may have scored in his flamefest with Rand Paul.

[herding cats]

15. Walker didn't have to rise above tonight if Trump fell.

Not really. He has the money to bring his name out beyond the debates, unlike Kasich and Rubio. I'm ashamed to admit I don't know where Carson is in his funding at the moment. Of course Jeb has the funding bring his name out there as the campaign goes on. That should go without saying.

[JCMach1]

17. Disagree about Carson and JEBtm

Jeb looked entitled and under the same fog he has been in during the entire campaign. Remind me again why Carson is there? Oh yeah, the YOUTUBES.

[jberryhill]

24. The exchange with Paul

IMHO helped Paul with the "constitutionalist" tea party contingent.

They don't need Christie to protect themselves from terrorism, and they don't want him going through their data any more than Obama, Bush or anyone else.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

12. The focus group was orchestrated by Fox, a farce

Luntz asked them if they thought Trump lost the debate and some raised their hands. To those, Luntz spoke. He asked for a showing of hands of those who thought trump did well and those people were never interviewed for their reasons and never spoken to again. When Luntz came back from break during which Charles Kruthamer officially declared the Fox marching orders that Trump had lost and that his performance was an unmitigated "collapse", he then asked once more for a show of hands as to who thought Trump lost and who thought Huckabee won. Those two questions show how orchestrated the focus group was. It was so obviously planned, directed and orchestrated as to who Fox management wanted to win. You could see this disgraceful manipulation of the event by Fox a mile away. It was breathtaking. Huckabee got softball question after softball question all night while Trump was getting nothing but questions that put him on the defensive and prevented him from discussing issues or substance. (like whether he'd filed for bankruptcy or how he used names of women, a type pf personal question no one else got). I'm not a trump fan but I'm instead a Fox hater and when I see a fixed, planned dramatic play instead of a real debate it pisses me off that Fox is allowed to do this without criticism.

It's really easy to see more Fox brainwashing at work in trying to determine the course of American politics.

[stevenleser]

14. Well, we'll see. Trumps fans have been pretty devoted so far, not listening to anyone. If they think

he did well, maybe we wont see any erosion in his support.

[jberryhill]

22. At this point

it seems that Trump's considerable core support actually feeds on the "it's over because he said something dreadful" cycle.

Luntz plays his groups like a calliope.

[tblue37]

16. I'm not so sure. FOX is perfectly capable of salting the focus group with ringers

who say they are Trump supporters but then switch to be against him after the debate. They have done that sort of thing before, having people who claim to have been loyal democrats for years say they have turned against the Democrats over this or that. But when someone digs into the "loyal democrat's" background, we learn that the person is actually the Republican Party leader in some town or city, or a bundler for Republican presidential campaigns.

FOX wants to kneecap Trump to clear the way for Jeb or Scott Walker--as Megyn Kelley's "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" questions to Trump suggest.

[JCMach1]

20. Doesn't matter, he will go up in the polls a bit...

pulling some more anti-establishment votes around the margins from folks like Carson and Cruz.

The biggest losers were Paul, and Carson...

Those who helped themselves the most were Cristie, Kasich, and Rubio.


Expect some shuffling and scuttlebutt in the coming days...

[phleshdef]

23. I said the first debate would expose what a weak candidate he is and it did.

[fbc]

26. Fox doesn't want Trump

[LibDemAlways]

27. It was all Trump baiting. I think

it will backfire. Trump voters no doubt loved the Rosie O'Donnell diss and would be happy to see the wall at the border go up tonight.

The Trump problem isn't going away any time soon dedpite Faux's best efforts.

[GitRDun]

28. I'll wait for the new polls

The FOX moderators distinctly went after Trump.

It's no surprise a FOX "focus group" says he sucked.

Eugene Robinson, on MSNBC, said he sat in a room full of Republicans, and Trump was the clear winner.

FOX has an agenda, anti Trump.

MSNBC does too, pro Hillary.

[snooper2]

29. his numbers won't change

PM me and I'll tell you why, but I charge now for advice LOL


Marco...think

[lovuian]

30. I don't think he imploded

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/07/donald-trump-first-republican-debate-immigration-misogyny-third-party-run

I think he made it very clear to the Republican Party .....he is very dangerous