Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has moved ahead of real estate mogul Donald Trump in the Republican presidential race, with both “outsiders” running far ahead of GOP officeholders seeking the nomination, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.
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The poll also showed only four percent support for a one-time party establishment favorite, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the son and brother of two former US presidents who has struggled to recover from weak debate performances.
Carson leads Clinton by 13 points among independents (47% to 34%).
“I suspect that it would be the most clear cut election in the history of the United States”, said Dr. Ben Carson, (R) Presidential Candidate. Everybody else in the GOP field got 4 percent or less, which is close to or within the margin of error. Of those, 27 percent said that Marco Rubio had the best performance, while 20 percent thought Ted Cruz did the best.
Clinton was the favorite of 53 percent of Democrats, with 35 percent would vote for Sen. 44-percent of Democratic voters say they might change their mind.
In an interview, Carson’s campaign manager, Barry Bennett, said that the only divergence between the Trump and Carson camps regarding the debates was that, “They [Trump’s camp] don’t want more people onstage, because they think that would mean more people taking shots at him”, Bennett said.
New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie tops Clinton 46 – 41 percent. He beats Clinton 50-40 and Sanders 51-39.
Trump has received 24 percent of Republican votes.
The poll did show Clinton defeating Trump in a general election matchup, 46 to 43 percent.
He added, “But a year is an eternity in presidential campaigns and this race already has left a few former front-runners on life support”. Trump’s favorable rating was 37 percent and his unfavorable rating was 56 percent. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for all registered voters, 4 points for Democratic primary voters and 4.5 points for Republican primary voters.
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Clinton has the lowest rating for honesty as American voters say 60 – 36 percent she is not honest and trustworthy.
