BREAKING OUT OF A CROWDED FIELD

CLEVELAND - The Republican race enters a new, more intensive phase after the first televised debate, which apparently drew more viewership than the NBA Finals.

It will take a while for perceptions to percolate and polls to shift, if history is any guide, but a few story lines emerged as potential game-changers after the debate, by far the most-watched program in the history of Fox News Channel.

Donald Trump, who got most of the airtime and threw rhetorical bombs, had soared into the lead of the 17-candidate field - improbably so, to insiders - but his prime-time performance Thursday, and follow-up comments Friday, could slow his roll.

A Fox News focus group of Republican voters after the debate trashed Trump, and his comments disparaging Megyn Kelly while defending earlier misogynistic statements may hurt him with female voters, strategists say.

The buzz in the political world said business executive Carly Fiorina helped herself by a strong performance in the undercard debate and could begin to see some poll numbers to match positive reviews she has been getting from voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Gov. Christie drew notice after a heated dispute with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul over the National Security Agency's collection of U.S. citizens' phone records, which Christie framed as an antiterrorism tactic. He pitched himself to Republican hawks who have yet to settle on a candidate and also drew a sharp contrast with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on entitlement costs.

Christie "had one of the breakout moments, and I think the exchange with Rand Paul was a good one for him," showcasing "his force of personality" and lesser-known background as a federal prosecutor, said Tom Rath, a GOP strategist in New Hampshire. He added that "it wasn't all bad for Rand Paul, too," who found his voice as his party's "stay-out-of-my-business" standard-bearer.

Establishment favorites Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Marco Rubio had solid performances but were intent on keeping the focus on Hillary Rodham Clinton, avoiding the tangles among Messrs. Christie, Paul, and Huckabee.

And Ohio Gov. John Kasich, helped by the cheers of a hometown crowd in Quicken Loans Arena, continued to show he could be an establishment-oriented alternative to Bush.

Fifteen percent of New Hampshire Republicans say they would vote for Kasich right now, second best behind Trump (32 percent), according to a Gravis Marketing poll conducted before Thursday's debate. Christie polled third at 9 percent. A Real Clear Politics average of New Hampshire polls puts Kasich in fourth place there.

The debate revealed Kasich as "a conservative with a big message," said his spokesman, Chris Schrimpf.

Trump was booed at the beginning of the debate when he would not promise to support a GOP nominee other than himself and refused to rule out a third-party run that, a Fox moderator pointed out, could doom the party in the general election.

Participants in pollster Frank Luntz's focus group, reacting to the debate in real time, panned Trump, citing the "name-calling," "narcissism," and "lack of solutions," according to a summary of the session. Voters said they "felt like they'd heard it all before" and blasted the reality TV star for failing to answer questions.

And that was before his interview with CNN late Friday, in which he said of Kelly's questioning: "There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever." On Saturday, Trump was disinvited from a high-profile gathering of conservative activists in Atlanta.

"Being Donald Trump made him the front-runner, but tonight his act wore thin," Luntz said after the debate. "He lowered the level of political discourse, and participants were really disappointed. The theme from our session: Dump Trump."

Perhaps he will slide, but it might not be immediate given his support, and he has weathered incendiary comments before./ According to a Fox News poll last week, Trump was the top vote-getter among men (29 percent) and women (24 percent). He was leading among tea partyers and evangelical Christians.

In the poll two months ago, 59 percent of Republicans said they would never support Trump. Only 33 percent said that in last week's poll.

"The question is what is his ceiling and has he reached it," said political scientist William Rosenberg of Drexel University. "He benefits from such a large field. In a two-person race, he might have 30 percent at best."

While the Trump drama unfolds, another outsider pledging to upend Washington had a good night: Fiorina.

The former Hewlett-Packard CEO, who has no political experience, used the debate to try to stir momentum for her campaign and raise money, posting on Facebook: "Clear consensus: Carly won the debate. Can you chip in $3 right now to help keep up the momentum?"

Charles Gerow, a Pennsylvania strategist who is a senior adviser to Fiorina, said she got a "significant boost" from the debate.

"Folks who were attracted to her but not committed will take another look or sign on," he said. "It will boost fund-raising. It will give her momentum, and primaries run on momentum."

As for Christie, his moment might not translate to momentum, said Rath, the New Hampshire strategist. "He didn't hurt himself, and secondly, he reminded people of his record," he said. "I don't think this in any way changes what they need to do, which is keep doing what he's doing."

Christie's backers, meanwhile, were quick to forecast a boost. "I'm getting calls this morning, and I'm getting e-mails, from people who said, 'Talk to me after the debate,' " Bobbie Kilberg, a GOP donor from Virginia on Christie's national finance team, said Friday.

@tomfitzgerald www.philly.com/bigtent