Mike Pence won VP debate, according to CNN poll, Frank Luntz focus group

Mike Pence narrowly won VP debate, polls find

(Image credit: LuntzGlobalVideo/YouTube)

last updated 5 October 2016

After a tough week for Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the Trump ticket needed a good vice presidential debate on Tuesday night. He got one, mostly. According to a snap CNN/ORC poll, Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, won the debate against Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton's VP nominee, 48 percent to 42 percent, barely within the poll's ±4.5-point margin of error. Among viewers, 29 percent said the debate would make them more likely to vote for Trump, 18 percent said the same for Clinton, and 53 percent said it didn't matter for their vote.

Republican pollster Frank Luntz put together a focus group of Ohio voters who say they are undecided or uncommitted to the candidate they support, and he also found that Pence won. While only one of the panelists thought Trump won his first debate against Clinton last week, a sizable majority thought Pence beat Kaine.

Pence was "calm," "polished," "effective," "composed," and "eloquent," according to these voters. "For me, I just needed to see somebody who was calm, and measured, and capable, and he totally gave me that," said one woman, apparently leaning Trump. A man added, "Pence didn't do much to actually defend Trump, but he just jumped in and defended the platform very well." "Kaine cherry-picked things that made Trump sound like a crazy person, and Kaine came off looking like a crazy person," said another woman. "Kaine came off as a jerk," one of the men said. "I actually like that guy, and I was really disappointed in him this time."

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"Are any of you more likely to vote for Donald Trump because of what you heard from Mike Pence?" Luntz asked, and about half of the people raised their hands. "Will it actually change any of your votes?" Nobody raised their hand. "That's pretty significant," Luntz said, wrapping up. "What we found tonight is Mike Pence was the, had the most impact by far," he said, judging it a good night for Donald Trump. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.