http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/269446-poll-rubio-won-gop-debateFebruary 14, 2016, 11:34 am
Poll: Rubio won GOP debate
By Bradford Richardson
An overnight poll conducted after Saturday night’s GOP presidential debate finds that a plurality of viewers thought Republican hopeful Marco Rubio won the contest.
Thirty-two percent of respondents in the CBS News poll saw Rubio as the winner, followed by 24 percent who picked Donald Trump, 19 percent who selected Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) and 12 percent who gave the win to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
The candidates were asked at the debate about the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and whether an appointment should be made before a new president takes office.
Trump also seemed to pin blame for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on former President George W. Bush, drawing boos from the South Carolina crowd.
He also said the audience was packed with special interest lobbyists backing Jeb Bush’s campaign.
Rubio, meanwhile, got into a testy exchange with Cruz when he suggested the Texas senator couldn’t speak Spanish, to which Cruz responded by asking Rubio a question in Spanish.
And Bush blasted Trump for his characterization of illegal immigrants as “criminals” and “rapists.”
The poll surveyed 601 respondents after the debate and has a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
