On Thursday, August 6, 2015, the Republican National Debate was held at Quicken Loans Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was aired on Fox News. Since the debate, there has been plenty of discussions about the performances of the candidates.

In an opinion “round-up,” 23 “experts” gave their opinions on who won and who lost during the Republican National Debate.

Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review, believes that Trump lost from the start, when asked if he would run as a third-party candidate if not selected as the presidential candidate (he said he would). According to Lowry, “Rubio was eloquent and strong,” “Walker made no mistakes,” and “Carson was awesome.” Lowry also believes that almost all candidates did well (with the exclusion of Trump).

Conservative syndicated columnist and author, Jonah Goldberg, said that Rubio’s performance was “disciplined, future-oriented, and entertaining,” which will aid in attracting voters and donors.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, believes that Trump took a hit, while Kasich, Huckabee, Marco Rubio, and Walker had “crisp performances.”  He also noted that Fiorina did well during the first debate.

John Neffinger, who runs the Franklin Forum PAC, believes that Trump leading the polls makes sense due to established research which states that we choose leaders “based on perceptions of strength and warmth.” He also noted that Christie and Paul made some “strong points,” but “often looked uneasy.”

What are your thoughts on the debate? Who do you think did the best? Who do you want to see as the presidential nominee?

For the full remarks mentioned above, and others, click here.