"Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has a double-digit lead over the rest of the GOP presidential field in early-voting Iowa in a new automated poll.
Walker pulls 24 percent[,] with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) at 10 percent apiece, according to a new poll conducted by Gravis Marketing for the conservative website Town Hall.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) sits at 9 percent, with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) at 7 percent, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) at 6 percent, Dr. Ben Carson at 5 percent, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) at 4 percent and businesswoman Carly Fiorina at 3 percent.
In general election matchups, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to show strength in Iowa. She leads Walker 47 to 41 percent and has an edge against all of her other potential GOP foes.
The results are the latest to show Walker on the rise, though these are much better numbers for him than other recent surveys that have found no candidate higher than the mid-teens.
A recent NBC News/Marist poll found Walker at 15 percent, in third place behind Huckabee at 17 percent and Bush at 16 percent, while a late January Des Moines Register/Bloomberg poll had him leading with 16 percent support and Paul at 15 percent.
The automated poll of 969 registered voters including 343 Republican primary voters used IVR phone software, was conducted Feb. 12-13, and has a 4 point margin of error for the overall poll."
It is very early, and Walker has a long way to fall.
If as a neighboring governor, Walker does not win Iowa in a landslide, it is hard to see how he could credibly continue as a supposed nation-wide conservative mantle bearer.