Following Christie in a battle for second place are Sen. Marco Rubio went up 5 points to 14 percent. Half (50%) now call that a top issue, up from 21% in September, while the previous top issue – jobs and the economy – is now the most important issue for 18% of likely Republican primary voters. The Texas senator has surged ahead in Iowa seven weeks before the state’s 2016 caucuses.
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The results reinforce the findings of an earlier poll conducted by the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling, which last week found Christie at 10 percent and called him “the clear momentum candidate”. Rand Paul of Kentucky with 2% and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with 1%. Also appearing in the main debate will be Florida Sen. Ted Cruz by 6 percent and former business executive Carly Fiorina and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson each by 5 percent in the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent, and this put Christie, Bush, Kasich, Cruz, Fiorina and Carson at a statistical tie.
Look for Christie to hit Rubio on the entire populist panoply of issues Tuesday in the CNN GOP Debate, including immigration, trade, and taxes.
The billionaire real estate developer spent the weekend defending his proposed ban on Muslims entering the USA, a plan that’s drawn almost universal condemnation from government leaders around the world. In a name, says Brown, it’s Donald Trump. Brown’s home in Rye has become an important stop for the GOP presidential candidates, and it’s where he and his wife Gail host “No-B.S.” barbecues to allow voters to see candidates up close. In 2014, New Jersey was voted one of the worst states for gun owners by Guns & Ammo magazine. Trump’s Monday announcement came mid-way through WBUR’s three-day New Hampshire survey, which started Sunday. McConnell denied that. Trump suggested that Cruz’s approach would impair his effectiveness. “I think he’s a radical”, Manchester resident Debi Rapson said at a recent Jeb Bush event, where she was candidate-shopping.
Donald Trump’s support also appears to be growing, according to WBUR’s month-by-month comparison. Only Sen. Lindsey Graham has made more, 170. “They recognize after San Bernardino, anywhere could be a target”, Christie says.
Part of the way to keep people safe, Christie said, is to engage with the Muslim community, as he did in New Jersey after 9/11.
“I do think Cruz will benefit because he’ll get some of the Tea Party types who want to burn it all down”, said Gross, now a partner at the Des Moines law office of BrownWinnick. What are you going to do about Social Security? “I don’t have people, you know, coming up and yelling about this other stuff”.
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“This isn’t like getting briefed in the basement of the Senate about some theoretical threat where all you have to do is nod and take notes”, Christie said. Chris Christie has moved into second place, according to Boston NPR affiliate WBUR. “You can’t do on-the-job training with the presidency”.
