Donald Trump was the clear winner in Thursday's Republican presidential debate, pollster Matt Towery told Newsmax.
"While most of the political pundits are not going to want to admit it, Trump did not hurt himself tonight — and he may have actually accelerated his campaign," Towery, CEO of InsiderAdvantage, said in an interview.
"He stayed true to what's gotten him through his lead in the polls. He was not politically correct. He was blunt — and he sparked back at every opportunity."
The billionaire developer also pulled the most time during the two-hour debate at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Towery said.
"If you actually add up the time of Trump versus the other candidates, he smoked them in terms of the amount of time he had in the debates," he said. "I look at who dominated the field in terms of time and who dominated on social media.
"The early reports we're seeing on social media is that Donald Trump absolutely dominated it," Towery said. "The other candidates acquitted themselves well — and there are some other candidates who are going to rise as a result of this debate."
Those two include Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the third candidate to enter the race, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the last one, strategist Bruce Haynes told Newsmax.
"Kasich distinguished himself as the most human and authentic on the stage — and I thought Rubio was clearly the best communicator of his story and of Republican policies and ideas," said Haynes, founder and president of the bipartisan Purple Strategies firm.
"They were both happy warriors.
"They both seemed to stand above the fray — and I thought Kasich did a good job of taking advantage of the home field," he said. "He worked really well the audience.
"They both smiled a lot and seemed optimistic and encouraging about the future, even as they were being critical of Democratic policies — and that's not always hard to do."
But the biggest loser in Cleveland was Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Haynes said.
"What continues to be surprising to me is how underwhelming Rand Paul is as a candidate. He was the clear loser.
"He got the worst of two of the more intriguing exchanges," Haynes added, referring to the outburst with Trump at the beginning of the contest over any third-party run and the exchange with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over the Patriot Act.
When Christie belittled Paul's efforts in the Senate to curtail the law, the senator brought up when the governor had hugged President Barack Obama for supporting the state during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
"If you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead," Paul said.
"The hugs that I remember are the hugs that I gave to the families who lost their people on Sept. 11," Christie retorted. "Those are the hugs I remember — and those had nothing to do nothing to do with politics."
Haynes noted Paul's "just kind of yucky" look, shown on a split screen, as Christie talked.
"Even though they may disagree on the policy issues surrounding the Patriot Act, when he is talking about the pain of those families — and Rand Paul has this nasty smirk on his face like 'you just don't get it' — it just shows a lack of connectivity, a lack of humanity and a lack of political skill.
"It might sum up why his candidacy is struggling right now."