Gov. Chris Christie’s frequent visits to the first primary state of New Hampshire began paying off as he rose to third place in the Republican presidential race in a poll of likely GOP voters released Tuesday. Republican leaders from House Speaker Paul Ryan to former Vice President Dick Cheney have since condemned Trump’s remarks and said they represent neither Republican nor conservative principles.
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Ted Cruz commands the top spot in the latest Monmouth University Poll of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers – his first lead in any early state poll of the 2016 cycle. Rubio was next at 16 percent, followed by Carson at 15 percent.
If some are scratching their heads over Cruz’s success in the new Iowa poll, Clinton friend and operative James Carville is not. No other GOP candidates received double digit support in the Monmouth poll. The margin of error was 4.9 percent.
A new CNN/ORC poll of Iowa Republicans got a different result.
If the caucuses were held today, Cruz would win with 24 percent support to Trump’s 19 percent backing. In October, this group gave their vote to Carson (30%) over Trump (22%), Cruz (17%), and Rubio (8%). Marco Rubio went up 5 points to 14 percent.
The poll is a big contrast compared to the last Monmouth poll in October, in which Carson led.
“Of all the people running, I think I can safely say I’m the only one who has ever saved anybody’s life”, the retired neurosurgeon said in an interview with Bloomberg Politics. Each time he goes over the top, he risks losing some supporters and solidifies the opposition of Republicans who were initially inclined to oppose him.
Individual front-runners aside, the polls show that with less than 60 days to the Iowa Caucus, Texas Sen. But Bystrom adds, “Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are still rising among Iowans likely to caucus”.
Despite Trump’s growing lead, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton beat all major Republican contenders in head-to-head match-ups.
Cruz gets much of his support from religious evangelicals and Tea Partiers – not a comforting thought for anyone preferring the presidency not fall into the hands of someone who hangs out near the right-wing lunatic fringe.
Cruz’s rise can also be attributed, in part, to his recent endorsement from Iowa Rep. Steve King. But with less than two months until the Iowa caucuses, Trump has not come close to the sparring that has defined his interaction with every other Republican candidate.
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King said some voters told him they had even switched their choice to Cruz because of his support for the Texan. Twenty-six percent in the CNN poll said they had definitely decided.
