ANDERSON COOPER (HOST): We'll start with our Republican commentators, Amanda Carpenter, Kevin Madden. Kevin how do you see the fact that so many Republicans seem to -- who are coming out to the polls, seem to have made up their mind much earlier?
KEVIN MADDEN: Well, I think that means that if we've seen so many of the polls over the last few months, Donald Trump has been leading them. So, one of the things that I would have been worried about if I were on some of the opposing campaigns, was that Donald Trump's supporters seemed to begin to -- they seemed to begin to calcify in their support for him months ago, They seem much more dug in, they seem heavily invested in seeing his campaign succeed. So, I think if these -- if these entrance polls start to hold up, that is going to be -- it could end up being a very big night for Donald Trump.
COOPER: Which is interesting, I mean what that sort of translates into is no matter what happens in the interim, comments that might be made, lot of commentators will say “Oh, look, he's crossed a line this time,” it doesn't seem to matter to those who are -- who have made up their minds a long time ago.
AMANDA CARPENTER: Yeah, and this is why the battle for second place is really so important. I mean, we kind of presume that Donald Trump is leading the polls, he will be the front-runner. Kevin is right, his supporters are very hard for someone else to peel off. So that fight for second place, the fight to be the Donald Trump alternative is even more intense. And especially going into the debate on Thursday, where the field is completely reset with the absence of Jeb Bush now -- it is essentially a three-person race. And so the dynamics between Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz for the best way to take on Donald Trump, and all the background battling for who ultimately other people coalesce behind is so intense.
