In an interview with CTV News, IPI's Tom Giovanetti gives his assessment of Thursday night's Fox News Channel Republican debate.
"It was a fabulous debate," said Giovanetti. "It showed how much energy there is on the Republican side."
On Trump running as a third party candidate, Giovanetti said it's a huge threat and could be an enormous headache for the GOP.
Pointing to the establishment candidate, Giovanetti said, "Jeb Bush was unimpressive and underperformed. He's an overfinanced, underperforming candidate, and if he doesn't start moving higher in the polls very soon, GOP donors will really panic."
But the only candidate that really seriously damaged himself was Rand Paul, said Giovanetti, who came across as "brittle, angry, and argumentative." Giovanetti noted the problematic disconnect for Paul regarding his libertarian foreign policy with the mainstream GOP base.
Candidates that stood out were Fiorina, Rubio, and Walker.
Overall? "The poll numbers aren't really significant at this point," said Giovanetti. "There's lots of room for change."
Watch the full interview online by clicking here.