Who Won The Third Republican Debate? – FiveThirtyEight

Which issues matter most? Share of likely Republican primary voters who said before the debate that each issue was among the most important to determining their primary vote

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Finally, before the debate, we also asked likely Republican primary voters what issues would be most important in determining their primary vote. (Respondents were allowed to select up to three issues from a list of 20.) Once again, among Republicans who responded to both waves of our poll, getting inflation and costs under control and controlling immigration led the way, with 52 percent and 41 percent respectively. Since the previous debate, though, keeping America safe from foreign conflicts or terrorism has spiked in importance. Thirty percent of Republicans now name it as one of their top issues, compared with 17 percent in our survey ahead of the Sept. 27 debate. This is likely a result of the Israel-Hamas war, which broke out after the Oct. 7 surprise terror attack on Israel by Hamas militants. Appropriately, foreign policy was the focus of an extended segment at the debate.

Our post-debate poll also asked debate watchers whether the debate did a good or a bad job covering some of these issues. It found that viewers were generally happy with how the debate covered the topics most important to them. For instance, 38 percent said the debate did an excellent or very good job covering immigration, while only 19 percent said it did a poor or terrible job. And 34 percent said the debate did an excellent or very good job covering the economy, while only 17 percent said it did a poor or terrible job doing so.

Viewers were less happy with how the debate covered other topics, though. For example, only 20 percent said the debate did an excellent or very good job covering crime and public safety, and 28 percent said it did a poor or terrible job. And only 20 percent of viewers said the debate did an excellent or very good job covering wokeness or political correctness, while 34 percent said it did a poor or terrible job covering that topic.

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Who Won The Third Republican Debate? - FiveThirtyEight