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GOP primary voters split over Trump’s Muslim ban, poll finds

Yes, some Republicans-perhaps many-are unnerved by the substance of his vitriol.

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Laying out his strategy to fight terrorism, Cruz also appeared to shift his position on a critical strategy that has divided Republican presidential candidates. The GOP is finally recognizing that divisive language, polarizing commentary about entire groups of people, and the vilification of “otherness” can be overdone in ways that damage the party significantly.

Hillary Clinton leads all the GOP White House contenders in hypothetical general-election showdowns, according to the MSNBC/Telemundo/Marist poll.

Clinton has long used Trump’s presidential bid as a laugh line in her otherwise wonky stump speech, with his name regularly eliciting boos and hisses from attendees. “Their language may be more veiled than Trump’s but their ideas aren’t so different”, Clinton said during a town hall in New Hampshire on Tuesday. Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, came under fire at home and overseas this week for his proposal to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the US. Voters feel as though they can know Trump will stick by his word because he’s proven he’s willing to stand by his incredibly offensive (in the minds of academics, pundits, members of the media, and many citizens) statements. Yet, Trump is doing something even more politically devastating: he is alienating everyone else.

But among all voters, Trump has a whopping 64 percent unfavorable score, with just 33 percent of voters rating him favorably.

On the Democratic side, the poll found Hillary Clinton is maintaining her 20-point lead over Sen.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, 1%. Thursday morning, Serial released the first episode of Season 2, focusing on Bowe Berghdal, the Army sergeant held captive by the Taliban for five years after leaving his base in Afghanistan, finally traded by President Obama for five Taliban detainees. In the Electoral College, Republicans have to switch 63 votes in order to make up the 126 vote margin that reelected the president. Other candidates are running TV ads, raising their profiles, and the campaigns are contacting people directly.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling decried Trump on Twitter as worse than her fictional villain Lord Voldemort.

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“While Senator Graham’s job approval among S.C. GOP likely voters is above 50%, his approval significantly trails that of S.C.’s junior senator, Tim Scott, and Graham’s approval rating among those who approve of the Tea Party is at 47%, a statistical tie with his disapproval numbers from that group”, Huffmon added.

Loading Clinton says Donald Trump is shameful and dangerous in Waterloo Iowa