Polls: 44% Say Trump Wins Debate; Rubio and Carson Surprise [Chart]

Post-debate polls: Trump Still on Top

Polls show 44% think Trump wins GOP debate. Rubio and Carson surprise.

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Last night’s debate in Cleveland was the first of many chances for the GOP establishment to dethrone Donald Trump from the top position in polls, and Fox News moderators Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace and Bret Baier came out swinging with some surprisingly difficult questions. Although most pundits think the debate was a “tie” between several candidates, an amalgamation of different user polls show Donald Trump is hard to bump.

We averaged three big online user polls as of 11:30am Eastern Time that account for over 600,000 votes including: The Drudge Report, Time.com, and Slate. There were small differences in the percentages on each poll, but one thing is clear: Trump is still on top for much of the electorate:

Trump’s appeal to the electorate can be summarized as follows:

Trump owns this debate. doesn’t seem like a politician. A fish out of water; that’s why he's so appealing.He laughs at this ridiculous show.

— Jeffrey A Tucker (@jeffreyatucker) August 7, 2015

Trump is making me laugh. He just slammed Chris Christie while slamming Atlantic City while deflecting questions about his own bankruptcies

— Dan Carlin (@dccommonsense) August 7, 2015

@dccommonsense @Nyquist81 Trump's secret is that he has no shame, which makes it impossible to shame him. People can sense it

— kawaiiberpunk hero (@mylittlepwnies3) August 7, 2015

That’s it – right there. Trump has no “shame”. It also helps explain why Trump “could not say” if he would run as an independent if he did not get the nomination.

For now, that will appeal to GOP voters who want a strong, unfiltered, and determined leader. However, as Trump reaches a larger and more focused stage, the details of his campaign and platform will likely kibosh his original gut appeal even to most Republicans. He’s also far too divisive to win a general election.

So who else can declare the debate a victory?

Marco Rubio and Dr. Ben Carson both had double-digit support (10.9% and 10.3% respectively) as the winner of the debate. Meanwhile, Ted Cruz and John Kasich were right behind with 8.3% and 8.6% support.