The upcoming debates might expose Trump to be a shallow opportunist who has diagnosed the problem but who has failed to rigorously think through his soundbite solutions. Most likely, the upcoming debates will not derail Trump's circus, it is still too early in the media cycle bubble, but it will begin the process.
I have also many times conjectured (rather than predicted) that Trump's numbers might continue to ascend but at a decelerating rate signaling that they were approaching a topping. These numbers indicate that that might well be the case.
CYA: one poll ain't enough to make clear judgments. We want to see a trend to do that. So far it looks like Trump is at best horizontal and perhaps declining and Cruz is ascending. Yes, I do indeed like those trends as one poster has suggested-but one dare not call them that yet.
I would argue that if the trends are real it signals that the folks are beginning to understand that Trump is not the only alternative to Jeb Bush and the Republican establishment. They are beginning to see Ted Cruz as that viable alternative without all of the baggage of Donald Trump. If so, that is the beginning of the end for Trump.
The decline of Jeb Bush, if that is a trend which continues and one might venture that there is a lot of evidence found in earlier polls to declare that a trend, it means that the need for Donald Trump as the only way to stop Jeb Bush and the Republican establishment is abating and will be seen to be abating. If Jeb Bush is no threat, conservatives need not take a risk with Donald Trump; Ted Cruz will do very nicely.
I say one more time, it's too early to tell but the first signs are encouraging.
