September 17, 2015

If You Are Wondering Who Won the Debates Tonight, Google Analytics Can Help

Fiorina started edging up to Trump and Carson.

Armando Arorizo/Zuma

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If Google searches are any indication, several of the GOP candidates dominated the others during tonight’s two debates. The first debate included Sen. Lindsey Graham, Gov. George Pataki, Rick Santorum, and Gov. Bobby Jindal. The event seemed to be dominated by Graham’s quips about drinking, and his lack of time spent in libraries. Graham also saw a surge in Google searches, according to Google Trends: 

It’s clear that Graham saw a surge in attention Wednesday night, and a lot of people were saying he “won.” But Jindal also seemed to liven up his lackluster campaign by attracting some more attention:

Then, during the main event, GOP front-runner Donald Trump did well, as usual. But former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina came out strong and held her own all night. Google searches showed her right up there with Trump and Dr. Ben Carson, and even ahead of them at certain points:

And perhaps Jeb Bush helped himself a bit, especially when he told Trump to apologize for dragging his Mexican American wife into the race:

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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