Young Bay Area Democrats who viewed Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate say that the candidate who either impressed them or frightened them as a possible rival against Hillary Clinton was Marco Rubio.
Some sample comments, according to the San Jose Mercury News. included:
Rubio had “a strong moment” by noting that he wasn’t born rich, “He was presidential and spoke on all the issues that were important to him….He’s coherent, he’s eloquent…I would certainly be worried that Hillary Clinton would have her work cut out for her,” and “He has some ideas, even if I disagree with them.”
The last comment came from Jon Ball, the vice-president of the College Democrats at UC Santa Cruz, who also said he thought Rubio would pose the biggest threat to Democrats, as he is young and Latino.
Rachel Marshall, an Alameda County public defender, sounded like an incoherent leftist, arguing, “I find Carly Fiorina to be reprehensible, but she comes across as presidential,” adding that Fiorina appeared to be”an effective communicator,” even if she’s mostly communicating lies.
According to a Field Poll taken of California Republicans in early October, Donald Trump garnered 17% of the vote, Ben Carson 15%, Fiorina 13% and Rubio 10%. Only 28% of respondents felt Trump would be the nominee.
The state of California has not voted for a Republican candidate since 1988, when George H. W. Bush won a squeaker, winning 51% of the vote as Michael Dukakis won 48%.