If extremist support had solidified early enough behind a single candidate, it’s quite likely that candidate could have beaten Romney, for whom Republican voters never felt much affection.
Advertisement
A Monmouth University poll released last week found Cruz in first place among Iowans who are the most likely GOP caucusgoers.
“I think he’ll cherish the
opportunity to be center stage” next to Trump, said McCall, noting that will heighten Cruz’s profile.
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Trump in the lead with 27 percent among Republicans nationally, and other polls give him similar leads in many state contests for the party’s presidential nomination. “I’m leading him by a lot”, Trump said, later adding that he believes Cruz can only maintain his friendly posture for so long.
Andrew Cuomo Monday slammed Donald Trump as a “recruitment poster” for ISIS, saying his comments about barring Muslims from coming into the United States are “fanning the flames of hate”.
“One of the reasons that I got into this is because I heard the frustration in the people who are so exhausted of backroom deals, of subterfuge, of dishonesty”, Carson said during an appearance on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
CNN notes that Paul nearly missed the main debate, but a Fox News poll on Sunday showed him doing better in Iowa.
But last week he questioned Trump’s judgment at a private fundraiser, according to The New York Times, after the billionaire businessman advocated temporarily banning Muslims from entering the United States.
His 21 percentage-point leap is a record breaker and has Cruz at 31 percent, up 10 over Trump at 21 percent. But Cruz does have a major advantage over Trump, one that is perhaps beginning to make a difference. And now we’ve got at least two polls with him way up in Iowa, including the Des Moines Register poll – which among the drivebys is among the most respected polls ever.
In an interview late last week with The Associated Press, Christie suggested two of his chief Republican rivals don’t have the right experience or priorities to keep the country safe. I mean, Seventh-day Adventist, I don’t know about. “You’re probably going to say, ‘I can’t stand the guy'”. Ted Cruz of Texas. “Donald Trump does not represent Vancouver in any way, shape, or form”.
Then there’s SC on February 20, where the vote is split among evangelical, military and establishment Republicans.
“It says to those in Islam who are trying to exploit people and recruit foreign fighters and otherwise, it says look, look at America”.
Cruz’s candidacy is a deliberate rebuke to that idea, a campaign that seeks not to broaden the GOP’s base of support, but to deepen it.
It’s true that many Republican voters admire Trump’s strong personality, his rejection of political correctness, his blunt attacks on official Washington, and his independence, including his willingness to pay for his own campaign rather than raise money from and be beholden to big donors.
“It’s hard to imagine that working”, McManus writes, referring to the general election next November.
Advertisement
Doyle McManus is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
