A new poll of New Hampshire GOP primary voters conducted after the first presidential debate shows Donald Trump stumbling, and John Kasich and Carly Fiorina getting significant bumps in support. The poll from Franklin Pierce University and the Boston Herald finds Trump with 18 percent, which is lower than Trump’s pre-debate Real Clear Politics poll average position at 25 percent.
Jeb Bush, meanwhile, is at 13 percent, remaining relatively steady among New Hampshire Republicans. But Kasich has seen a big boost, from his pre-debate poll average of just under 9 percent to 12 percent in the new FPU/Herald poll. And Fiorina, who has struggled in the large field to break out of the low single digits, is batting clean-up in the new poll at 9 percent.
This is just the first poll of New Hampshire Republican primary voters since last Thursday’s debate, so the numbers could be outliers. But if the poll does indicate a trend in the “first in the nation” primary, it’s that Trump has not worn well since Thursday’s debate. It also suggests Kasich is getting a look from Republicans who might be inclined to support Bush. From the new issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD:
“I’m really glad I did this, because there are people’s lives who’ve been saved as a result of it,” Kasich told a group of voters in Greenland, New Hampshire, last month.
Kasich has Bush in his sights, though he won’t admit it. The former Florida governor has frequently promised on the trail to deliver 4 percent economic growth as president. At the August 3 forum, Kasich took what sounded like a swipe at Bush, saying “I think that economic growth is not just an end unto itself,” before calling for Republicans to reach out to Americans living “in the shadows.” The next day, speaking with reporters, he shook his head at the suggestion he was targeting Bush. “I was trying to figure out how anybody thought I was doing that,” said Kasich. “It wasn’t a slap at anybody.”
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