We'll never know if the debate hurt Rubio

MACHESTER, N.H. — We’ll never really know whether Sen. Marco Rubio’s rocky performance in Saturday night’s debate affected his showing in Tuesday’s primary, because none of the New Hampshire polls will be reliable enough to offer a basis for comparison.

In addition to the usual challenges facing pollsters in the modern era — low response rates, cell phone only households, etc. — the closeness of the primary to the Iowa caucuses, coupled with the busy week on the campaign, has created too many variables to get an accurate picture of where the Granite State race stands.