Posted on 07/09/2015 6:09:00 PM PDT by Din Maker
Donald Trump has been inching upward in the polls lately, and now we finally have one from The Economist and YouGov showing him in a clear first place.
"Trump supporters may be making more of a statement than voting for someone they consider a contender," Kathy Frankovic writes at YouGov. "Just one in five of Trump's supporters think Trump will win the nomination." Other tidbits Frankovic points out are that Trump's supporters tend to back the Tea Party and to identify as "very conservative," and are less likely to be college-educated.
The new poll is probably a bit dispiriting for Jeb Bush, though. He had gotten a small bump to first place in three national polls conducted after his June announcement, and his team clearly hoped this would finally let him break away from the rest of the large field. Now, though, he's down at 11 points, tied for second with Rand Paul. This new poll could be an outlier, or it could be the first sign that Jeb's announcement bounce has worn off. (Bush's fantastic fundraising news should help with any disappointment he feels, though)
But Trump's 15 percent is not a particularly impressive performance in a crowded field Bush, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, and Mike Huckabee have all hit or passed that number in at least one poll. Also, Trump hasn't yet led any polls in Iowa or New Hampshire, which are generally more important than national polls. Still, it's national polls that are being used to determine which candidates qualify for the first GOP debate, and Trump clearly makes that cut at this point.
But the big question about whether Trump will show up on stage in Cleveland on August 6 isn't about his polling it's about whether he'll actually turn in the required financial disclosures to the FEC. As Slate's Josh Voorhees writes, many are skeptical that Trump would publicly disclose so many details of his "business empire." It's up to Trump to prove them wrong.
The polls are BS. That is for sure.
A Jebbie-Haley ticket is already a done deal, horror of horrors.
As amusing as it might be for the moment to see Trump make fools out of the GOPe, they're all liberal fools.
And I don't support liberals.
And I also don't stay home. I'll do all I can once again to make sure there is a truly conservative candidate on the ballot, or at least qualified as a write in.
There is no way to restore constitutional, republican, representative self-government as long as those who call themselves conservatives are willing to put political expedience before principle and support candidates who don't represent them.
I agree. I’m a Cruz guy. But, I think Donald Trump could also “represent” me; primarily by destroying the GOP Establishment, if nothing else. I like Bobby Jindal, but he doesn’t have the chance of that proverbial snowball.
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