Posted on 02/05/2016 10:38:12 AM PST by GodGunsGuts
Texas senator Ted Cruz appears to have the support of a plurality of the most active local Republicans after winning the straw poll Thursday night at the final Sumter County GOP meeting before the South Carolina primary.
Cruz, whose campaign also sent surrogates to the meeting to speak on his behalf, received 33 percent of the vote among the partisan crowd, well ahead of Presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson, each of whom received 15 percent in the straw poll to finish tied for second. Florida senator Marco Rubio finished fourth in the poll, with 13 percent.
Slightly surprisingly, the top governor in the poll turned out to be Ohio executive John Kasich, who received nine percent of the support from those in attendance, while former Florida governor Jeb Bush, despite his campaign sending former Florida senator Mel Martinez to speak as a surrogate at the meeting, received only seven percent support. Kasich, Bush, and New Jersey governor Chris Christie – who received two percent support – have been cast together by the national punditry, theoretically in a hard battle with Rubio in the upcoming New Hampshire primary to become the “establishment†candidate.
Carly Fiorina, and Rand Paul, who this week withdrew from the race and was not on the ballot but was written in, rounded out the poll, each receiving two percent of the vote. Two percent of those polled declared they were undecided.
Cruz’s ground game is crazy. I forgot how many volunteers he has working in how many states across the country. Organizing and trying to get people out to vote. Not to mention the amount of donations pouring in.
Cruz gonna sweep the south.
MmmHmmm!
#groundgamematters
Nice!
Go South Carolina! Deliver the state to Ted as you did for Newt in 2012.
Oh ya! I told the Trump supporters last week i thought Trump would take NH (WE’LL SEE) but i have no doubt Cruz will take SC.
“#groundgamematters”
If you’re in it for the long haul, like Carson claims. Yes, it definitely matters.
That would be awesome.
Worst GOPe nightmare ever.
Of course the state polls show Trump leading but I’m sure they are all wrong. LOL!
Doubtful. Trump has the edge in South Carolina and is the favorite to sweep most states (with the exception of perhaps Texas) on Super Tuesday. That however, assumes status quo.
The true problem for the Republicans is going to come after the GOP-e RINOs start dropping out in favor of Rubio if/when Rubio places well in New Hampshire.
Cruz/Trump/Carson (if he stays in) will split the Conservative vote, leaving a pathway for Rubio to erode into Trump’s lead (or Cruz’s surge) in the South.
What both Trump and Cruz needs is some RINO like Kasich to finish ahead of Gang-of-Eight Marco to extend the GOP-e battle into March. If Rubio finishes second in NH, the RINOs start dropping like flies.
The true enemy right now to everyone on FR is Rubio. The RINO wing must be defeated.
Probably not all, but most of them for sure...just like they were dead wrong in Iowa...you’re going to see Iowa replay again and again across the country!
Complete with Trumpertantrum tweetstorms at just about every stop along the way!!!
Ted Cruz 2016!
Of course the state polls show Trump leading but I’m sure they are all wrong. LOL!
Just like Iowa i’m sure LOL!
Well its nice to have a dream. After next Tuesday its going to be Ted Who? :-)
They haven't done any state polls in SC since about the middle of January - a lifetime in politics, especially now that the voting has started. But it will be interesting to see what the SC polls are about a week after NH. If Trump barely beats Rubio or if he actually drops to 2nd place, I think his poll numbers will crater in SC and beyond.
Look on the bright side, when Trump inevitably goes down in flames, you might have Bernie Sanders winning the Democrat primary, so that you’ll still have a candidate in the race to satisfy all those populist, protectionist impulses.
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