Democratic and Republican insiders blanched at Donald Trump’s refusal to say in Wednesday night's debate that he would accept the presidential election outcome if he loses next month.

That’s according to The POLITICO Caucus — a panel of activists, strategists and operatives in 11 key battleground states that will determine Trump’s fate. Four-out-of-five Republicans, and virtually all Democrats, said Trump — when he was asked in his third debate with Hillary Clinton whether he would accept the verdict of the voters, win or lose — should have pledged to respect the outcome of the race.


It was the defining moment of a debate that tilted toward Clinton, insiders said. Ninety-nine percent of Democratic insiders and slightly more than half of Republicans, 53 percent, said Clinton did a better job at the Las Vegas debate. And many cited Trump decision to decline moderator Chris Wallace’s offer to say he would honor the vote count on November 8.

“Trump started well, but Hillary finally got him to take the bait,” said an Ohio Republican. “His answer on not accepting the results of the election are disqualifying — and that's not an ‘elite’ position.”

“Trump’s answer on not accepting the electoral results was pivotal,” a Virginia Republican added.

Even some Republicans who thought Trump performed well Wednesday night lamented his answer to Wallace’s question about accepting the validity of the returns. One Nevada Republican called it Trump’s “worst moment of an otherwise adequate debate performance.”

But Republicans were split on whether Trump’s response will damage his chances: About half said it would be very or somewhat damaging, while half said it won’t be damaging.

“There's just no excuse for this line of attack on the process,” an Ohio Republican said. “Media and elites will care. They already hate him anyway. Conspiracy theorists will love it, but they're all voting for him anyway. How does this add to his coalition when he's behind? It doesn't.”

“Refusing to accept the outcome of a legitimate American election and refusing to commit to the peaceful transition of power is disqualifying,” added a New Hampshire Republican. “Stunning.”

Among GOP insiders, a majority, 72 percent, said they weren’t comfortable with Trump’s refusal to commit to supporting the election results.

“I'm embarrassed for, by and of him,” said a Florida Republican.

Another Florida Republican called it “the greatest disgrace of a disgraceful cycle.”

But other Republicans, about 20 percent, said they were “very comfortable” with Trump’s answer.

“Because of recent voter fraud schemes resulting in firing of two characters shown to be working with the DNC and Clinton campaign, I don't blame him for not committing to that,” a Colorado Republican said. “Now, I half expect the mainstream news media networks/reporters/political directors who have been shown to donate to Clinton Foundation and/or collude with John Podesta and Clinton campaign according to Wikileaks emails, to try make a big deal out of it. But I think it's hard to argue it'll hurt him when Al Gore challenged George Bush [in 2000].”

A New Hampshire Republican also cited 2000 and called it “a non-issue with voters. Only the elite care.”

As for Democrats, they mostly celebrated what they saw as a third consecutive strong performance from Clinton: 99 percent picked the former secretary of state as the winner, a similarly near-unanimous decision as after the previous two debates. One New Hampshire Democrat called it a “hat trick.”

“She crushed him,” added a Nevada Democrat. “She crushed him on the Supreme Court. She crushed him on abortion. She crushed him on guns. She crushed him on Russia. She crushed him on the legitimacy of the election. She was talking directly to moderate suburban women throughout. “

“This was Trump's best performance, but he lost it after 30 minutes,” a North Carolina Democrat said. “Trump saying he had so little faith in this country's elections that he won't accept the results is outrageous.”

Added another North Carolina Democrat: “The difference in intelligence, competence, temperament and basic decency was so stark, it was not even close.”

Asked to evaluate which candidate won the three debates combined, every Democratic respondent chose Clinton — as did 76 percent of Republican insiders. One Ohio Republican said simply: “Debate prep matters.”

“She was not great,” a Florida Republican said. “But against him she didn't have to be.”

Democrats were unanimous in declaring Clinton the winner of the three debates.

“Not even close,” said a Colorado Democrat. “The three debates have been the defining events of this election, and Hillary has won each one, usually followed by some type of Trump meltdown.”

“No contest,” a Pennsylvania Democrat added. “She was better prepared and showed she is ready for the presidency. These debates illuminated the choice better than any series we have ever witnessed. Trump was given a chance to win this election against the weakest Democratic candidate since Walter Mondale, and he came up short. Trump finally hit his stride in this debate, but his … outcome acceptance mistake demonstrated why he lost these debates rather than Clinton winning them.”

On Wednesday night, insiders in both parties felt Trump was undone by that one moment.

“Apple pie, baseball, democracy. As an American, there are some basic things you should defend and stand up for,” a Virginia Republican said.

These are the members of The POLITICO Caucus, not all of whom participated in this survey:

Colorado: Ryan Call, Laura Carno, Matt Chandler, Will Coyne, Adam Eichberg, Mark Ferrandino, Cole Finegan, Michael Fortney, Andrew Freedman, Ted Harvey, Craig Hughes, Owen Loftus, Pete Maysmith, Frank McNulty, Karen Middleton, Christopher Murray, BJ Nikkel, Josh Penry, Rick Ridder, Alan Salazar, Janice Sinden, Pat Steadman, Pat Waak, Steve Welchert, Taylor West, Roxane White, Rob Witwer

Florida: Fernand Amandi, Scott Arceneaux, JP Austin, Tim Baker, Dennis K. Baxley, Slater Bayliss, Dave Beattie, Wayne Bertsch, Ron Book, Pamela Burch Fort, Jose Calderon, Kevin Cate, Kelly Cohen, Gus Corbella, Brian Crowley, Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder, Justin Day, Judith Diaz, Nelson Diaz, John Dowless, Ryan Duffy, Jessica Ehrlich, Joe Falk, Alia Faraj-Johnson, Mark Ferrulo, Damien Filer, Marty Fiorentino, Rich Heffley, Nick Iarossi, David Johnson, Eric Johnson, Marian Johnson, Eric Jotkoff, Chris Korge, Jackie Lee, Susan MacManus, Beth Matuga, Fred Menachem, Jon Mills, Joe Mobley, Ben Pollara, Andrea Reilly, Steve Schale, April Schiff, Max Steele, Roger Stone, Richard Swann, Kevin Sweeny, Christian Ulvert, Steve Vancore, Ashley Walker, Andrew Weinstein, Andrew Wiggins, Ryan Wiggins, Rick Wilson

Iowa: Tim Albrecht, Brad Anderson, Rob Barron, Jeff Boeyink, Bonnie Campbell, Dave Caris, Sam Clovis, Jerry Crawford, Sara Craig, John Davis, Steve Deace, John Deeth, Derek Eadon, Ed Failor Jr., Karen Fesler, David Fischer, Ben Foecke, Doug Gross, Steve Grubbs, Tim Hagle, Bob Haus, Joe Henry, Drew Ivers, Jill June, Lori Jungling, Jeff Kaufmann, Brian Kennedy, Jake Ketzner, David Kochel, Chris Larimer, Chuck Larson, Jill Latham, Jeff Link, Dave Loebsack, Mark Lucas, Liz Mathis, Jan Michelson, Chad Olsen, David Oman, Matt Paul, Marlys Popma, Troy Price, Christopher Rants, Kim Reem, Craig Robinson, Sam Roecker, David Roederer, Nick Ryan, Tamara Scott, Joni Scotter, Karen Slifka, John Smith, AJ Spiker, Norm Sterzenbach, John Stineman, Matt Strawn, Charlie Szold, Phil Valenziano, Jessica Vanden Berg, Nate Willems, Eric Woolson, Grant Young

Michigan: Jill Alper, Saul Anuzis, Andrea Bitely, Lori Carpentier, Howard Edelson, Jordan Gehrke, Steve Hood, Darwin Jiles Jr., Joe Lehman, Dennis Lennox, Katie Packer, Ronna Romney McDaniel, John Truscott, Stephanie White, John Yob

Nevada: Mac Abrams, Greg Bailor, Barbara Buckley, Yvanna Cancela, Bob Cavazos, Linda Cavazos, Jim DeGraffenreid, Andrew Diss, Peter Ernaut, Ryan Erwin, Chip Evans, Jay Gerstema, Oscar Goodman, Ryan Hamilton, Dan Hart, Pat Hickey, Zach Hudson, Jeremy Hughes, Megan Jones, Lindsey Jydstrup, Adam Khan, Peter Koltak, Roberta Lange, Sam Liberman, Laura Martin, Michael McDonald, Chuck Muth, Erven Nelson, Kristen Orthman, Neal Patel, Nick Phillips, Jon Ralston, Andres Ramires, Emmy Ruiz, Scott Scheid, Mike Slanker, James Smack, Paul Smith, Jack St. Martin, Mari St. Martin, Daniel Stewart, Brendan Summers, Riley Sutton, Robert Uithoven, Michelle White, Ed Williams, Heidi Wixom

New Hampshire: Charlie Arlinghaus, Arnie Arnesen, Patrick Arnold, Rich Ashooh, Dean Barker, Juliana Bergeron, D.J. Bettencourt, Michael Biundo, Ray Buckley, Peter Burling, Jamie Burnett, Debby Butler, Dave Carney, Jackie Cilley, Catherine Corkery, Fergus Cullen, Lou D’Allesandro, James Demers, Mike Dennehy, Sean Downey, Steve Duprey, JoAnn Fenton, Jennifer Frizzell, Martha Fuller Clark, Amanda Grady Sexton, Jack Heath, Gary Hirshberg, Jennifer Horn, Peter Kavanaugh, Joe Keefe, Rich Killion, Harrell Kirstein, Sylvia Larsen, Joel Maiola, Kate Malloy Corriveau, Maureen Manning, Steve Marchand, Tory Mazzola, Jim Merrill, Jayne Millerick, Claira Monier, Greg Moore, Matt Mowers, Terie Norelli, Chris Pappas, Liz Purdy, Tom Rath, Colin Reed, Jim Rubens, Andy Sanborn, Dante Scala, William Shaheen, Stefany Shaheen, Carol Shea-Porter, Terry Shumaker, Andy Smith, Craig Stevens, Kathy Sullivan, Chris Sununu, James Sununu, Jay Surdukowski, Donna Sytek, Kari Thurman, Colin Van Ostern, Deb Vanderbeek, Mike Vlacich, Ryan Williams

North Carolina: Don Davis, Francis X. De Luca, Anita Earls, Jonathan Felts, Tami L. Fitzgerald, Dylan Frick, Taylor Griffin, Robin Hayes, Morgan Jackson, Patsy Keever, Theresa Kostrzewa, Michael Luethy, Ray Martin, Thomas Mills, Melissa L. Reed, Chris Sgro, Paul Shumaker, Dee Stewart, Brad Thompson, Bruce Thompson, Charlie Wallin, Doug Wilson

Ohio: Jerry Austin, Greg Beswick, Matt Borges, Erica Bruton, Tim Burke, Janet Carson, Jai Chabria, Martha Clark, Bob Clegg, Damareo Cooper, Jo Ann Davidson, Michael Dawson, Bill DeMora, Cindy Demse, Kathy Dicristofaro, Katie Eagan, Michael Gonidakis, Wes Goodman, Joe Hallett, Ian James, Melissa Klide Hedden, David Leland, Nick Martin, Rhine McLin, David Pepper, Molly Shack, Mark R. Weaver

Pennsylvania: Chris Borick, Larry Ceisler, Valentino DiGiorgio, Jason Ercole, Dan Fee, Charlie Gerow, Marcel Groen, Leslie Gromis Baker, Mark Harris, Nan McLaughlin, Aubrey Montgomery, Christopher Nicholas, Nachama Soloveichik, David Sosar, Todd Stephens, Doc Sweitzer, David Thornburgh, Ray Zaborney

Virginia: Ray Allen, Sandra Brandt, Marc K. Broklawski, Patsy Brown, Janet Carver, John Cosgrove, Brian Coy, Doris Crouse-Mays, Tom Davis, Julie Dime, Abbi Easter, Mike Farris, John Findlay, Joe Fitzgerald, Sean Harrison, Margo Horner, Robert Hurt, Gaylene Kanoyton, Chris LaCivita, Sue Langley, Frank Leone, Robert G. Marshall, Tucker Martin, Ed Matricardi, Susan J. Rowland, Peter Snyder, Susan Swecker, Jo Thoburn

Wisconsin: Meg Andrietsch, Mary Arnold, Kevin Barthel, Mike Basford, Rebecca Bonesteel, Barry Burden, Terri Burl, Jim Camery, Patrick Guarasci, Robert Hansen, Gary Hawley, Marian Krumberger, Emily Nehring, Jason Rae, Brandon Scholz, John Zapfel

Kristen Hayford contributed to this report.