Republican presidential candidates will test their messages in New Hampshire on Monday, with the exception of Donald Trump, in a pivotal week on the 2016 campaign trail that will be dominated by their first head-to-head debate on Thursday.
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The most consequential finding in the poll, however, was what it means for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who are locked in a three-way battle for the last two spots on the stage in Thursday’s first Republican presidential debate.
Joe McQuaid, the publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper that is co-sponsoring the forum, says Trump’s no-show is the result of a critical column in the paper. “Republican support for Donald Trump just continues to grow with no clear sense of who his constituency really is”, said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch.
According to the Washington Post, Sens.
Monday’s forum can be seen at 7:00 on C-Span, NECN and NH1. CNN will host the debate with moderators Jake Tapper and Hugh Hewitt.
Right after Thursday’s debate, most candidates will head to Atlanta for a Red State gathering Friday – an important coalition of conservative voters they would like to win over to gain some traction in the race.
Without exception, the candidates aimed their criticism at Democrats instead of each other in a two-hour meeting where they had more in common than not. “There can be no replacement for seeing a candidate in person, shaking his or her hand, and maybe getting the chance to ask a question”.
In several recent visits to New Hampshire, Graham criticized Fox News’ decision to determine participants based on national polls, saying it takes away from the importance of early voting states.
That includes former Pennsylvania Sen.
Even Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor who favors comprehensive immigration reform, said limits should be placed on “chain immigration”, the ability of new U.S. citizens to bring in a variety of their relatives from other countries. Marco Rubio (Florida), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Kentucky) will not be live at the event. Currently, 29 percent named Trump as the candidate they “would not vote for under any circumstances”, with Bush finishing second at 16 percent. “I am not looking to take anybody out or be nasty to anybody”, he said in an interview Sunday.
Candidates who do not qualify for the debate will be invited to participate in a forum to be aired on the afternoon of the debate.
For as much infighting Trump has caused the past few weeks, the candidates were united on many fronts.
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The poll was conducted by telephone from July 30 – August 2, 2015 with 1,203 adults nationally.
