For once, the voters agreed with the pundits. In the second floor of Halligan’s Tavern on Wednesday night, a few dozen local Republicans agreed with the conventional wisdom that Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio had performed best in the debate held in Simi Valley, California.
John O’Connor, a local state representative, told the Guardian that Rubio reminded him in some ways of John F Kennedy. He also thought Fiorina did well, saying: “Carly, I really like the way she approaches things.”
However, the three-term legislator was left somewhat befuddled by the rise of Donald Trump. O’Connor said he had been out of the country for large parts of the summer and had not closely followed the real-estate billionaire’s rise to the top of the polls. He was not impressed with what he saw on Wednesday.
Trump didn’t do much for the Republicans attending this bar in Derry, New Hampshire. It was, however, something of a self-selecting crowd. The Trump campaign was holding its own debate-watching parties across the state and this group of stalwarts wasn’t exactly drawn from its target demographic.
Trump drew laughs, but not much support. As Trump stumbled on questions about Middle East, one Republican, Patricia Dancey, exclaimed: “What a strange guy.”
Dancey became a Rubio fan in the course of the debate. After it, she said she was ready to vote for him. However, she still thought he wouldn’t win in 2016. Instead, she thought he was someone who could become president eventually.
Another Rubio supporter was Neil DeLuca. A second-generation Italian American, he said he felt an emotional connection to the Florida senator’s story of growing up in a blue-collar immigrant household. He also admitted that Fiorina did well too.
Fiorina’s strong performance may have won over one Derry voter who previously supported her nemesis. Deb Gowins, an ardent Trump supporter before the debate, told the Guardian she was now “on the fence” and considering supporting the former Hewlett Packard chief executive.
Yet in New Hampshire, a state where voters are famously loth to commit to supporting anyone, such impressions may only last until the next debate. As state representative David Milz said, he may not know who he will vote for until he walks into the polling booth on primary day.
Milz was picking between Fiorina, Rubio and Chris Christie. He told the Guardian Jeb Bush had fallen off his list after the debate. Milz just didn’t think the former Florida governor was up to snuff.
“He didn’t project,” he said.
There are seven more debates until New Hampshire’s primary, the first in the nation, and Milz will be watching them all. But like many other New Hampshire Republicans, he may not commit to a candidate.
After all, as Milz pointed out, it’s always possible that a campaign will implode on the eve of the primary. It’s worth keeping an open mind.
The next Republican debate will be held on 28 October in Boulder, Colorado.
