Hmmmm. Maybe Rubio is more alive than dead.
I’m a bit surprised at his 20%. But if so he might turn out to be the David to slay the Bush Goliath for good. Assuming that 20& to 10% margin holds.
After SC it will be Trump, Cruz and Rubio. The RINOcracy has run out of options.
Cruz will also get a nice bump when Carson drops out.
As a Cruzer, it seems like the main realistic path to victory at the moment, other than Trump tripping on his on tongue, is it becoming a 2-man race ASAP after Super Tuesday. I believe that Trump has a ceiling of about 45-48 pct, and as candidates drop out (as two more recently did), Cruz will catch up. These numbers seem to verify my suspicion. We are down to 6 candidates now, from 17.
(Gilmore doesn't count... he got 12 votes in IA, and fewer votes than one of the 28 insane choices in NH, Andy Martin.)
South Carolina is winner take all. These poll numbers are unstable because in a winner take all state, voting choices generally become strategic as voting day approaches. Sopporters of down-ballot candidates often choose not to waste a vote, but to use it to support a second choice candidate with an actual chance to win.