Cruz and Rubio both were up 4 points since October’s poll, a shift within the poll’s margin of sampling error.
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Mr. Trump’s 61 percent favorable rating is also a new high. Two of the three show Trump’s support going up, and the other is the first of the year, so there is no trendline.
Donald Trump dominates the Republican presidential field nationally and in New Hampshire, while he’s locked in a tight race in Iowa with Texas Sen. Then came the Islamic State attacks in Paris, and Carson began fading as voters’ concerns shifted to terrorism. Cruz has refrained from attacking Trump, whose supporters he’d like to win over.
Cruz and Trump will meet face-to-face at the next Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN in Las Vegas. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., on December 10, 2015.
“The tie at the top of the Iowa Republican Caucus reflects a change in priorities among voters”, said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
While Donald Trump called Ted Cruz a “maniac”, Cruz chose not to retaliate.
The polling also gives ammunition to the notion of a Trump-Cruz Divide within the conservative movement. Marco Rubio of Florida and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson far behind.
Among Republicans, Rubio is on the rise. The biggest loser from the last poll to this one has been Ben Carson who had held a prime position not too long ago, now dropping to fourth place. “My preference would be for him to stay on his own course and not get sucked into other people’s efforts to take one or the other candidates down”. Paul polled at 5 percent, just ahead of Christie and Fiorina, who received 2 percent support each.
There’s no sign of a recovery.
A 73 percent majority in the poll say Muslims living in the United States experience discrimination due to their religion, and the vast majority of this group says such discrimination is not justified.
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“Trump is tapping in to the phenomenon”, stated Patrick Murray, who leads the Monmouth poll. And more than half, 51 percent, viewed Bush unfavorably, more than any other candidate in the race, while 41 percent had a favorable opinion of him. All but Huckabee have been invited to the main stage for tomorrow’s debate.
