Posted on 02/19/2016 10:48:11 AM PST by SoConPubbie
Ted Cruz has made a deep cut into Donald Trump's advantage in South Carolina, according to a new poll released on Friday.
The survey of likely Republican primary voters, conducted by Marist for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, suggests a sudden tightening GOP race only a day before Saturday's potentially pivotal contest — and after weeks when it seemed Trump would romp in the first-in-the-South primary.
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While Trump leads Cruz 28 percent to 23 percent, his edge is barely outside the margin of error, in stark contrast to polls released in recent days that showed him with a clear double-digit advantage over the Texas senator. In the previous NBC/WSJ/Marist poll, conducted in mid-January, Trump held a 16-point lead over Cruz.
Marco Rubio finished third with 15 percent in the new poll, statistically tied with Jeb Bush, who picked up 13 percent. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Ben Carson rounded out the field with 9 percent each, though barely statistically behind Bush.
Trump holds a clear advantage among those who said they have never voted in a South Carolina Republican primary, with 35 percent of that group backing him. The second-highest share of first-timers backs Cruz, at 18 percent, while 16 percent said they back Bush. The Manhattan businessman also leads among those 45 and older, unmarried voters and voters who do not practice a religion. He also holds a 2-percentage-point advantage over Cruz among those who said they do practice a religion, as well as among both veterans and nonveterans.
Trump has not taken kindly to polls showing him in any place other than first or otherwise losing ground. On Thursday, Trump laced into The Wall Street Journal in particular, one of the sponsors of a national survey that showed Cruz up by a mere 2 points.
"In my opinion, it was a fix, you want to know the truth," he told Sirius XM's Breitbart News Daily. "CBS just came out with a poll that says the same as every other poll. You know, Wall Street Journal came out with a poll, 'cause I'm not a big fan of The Wall Street Journal."
Six in 10 likely voters said they are strongly supporting a candidate at this point, with that share even higher among backers of Trump (71 percent) and Cruz (66 percent). Overall, 25 percent said they have a candidate they support somewhat, while 13 percent said they might vote differently on primary day.
But despite the new support for Cruz, there is at least one reason to proceed with caution. Among those who said they might ultimately vote differently than they indicated in the survey, Cruz is at the top, with 26 percent of his backers, followed by 22 percent of Bush supporters. Just 8 percent of Trump supporters said they might vote differently come Saturday.
Little has changed overall in the Democratic race, with Hillary Clinton picking up the support of 60 percent of likely primary voters. Bernie Sanders trails the former secretary of state, at 32 percent. In the previous NBC/WSJ/Marist survey, Clinton held a 37-point advantage over Sanders, at 64 percent to 27 percent.
The issue of race relations has loomed over the Democratic primary in South Carolina, a state with a historically important African-American electorate.
Among white voters, however, Sanders now holds a 5-point advantage after trailing Clinton by 11 points in January. The 16-point swing in his favor also comes with more modest gains among likely African-American primary voters.
In this survey, 68 percent of African-Americans said they would be supporting Clinton, down 6 points from January; 21 percent in that group said they would support Sanders, up 4 points during the same time period. Clinton's advantage among African-Americans under the age of 45 is more narrow, at 52 percent to 35 percent. She leads 78 percent to 12 percent among African-Americans older than 45.
Marist College conducted the telephone poll Feb. 15-17, surveying 722 likely Republican primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, and 425 likely Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.8 percentage points.
When is a politician lying to you?———When his lips are moving!
I’m taking bets! Over/under 10 times this NBC poll will be posted today. Here is a hint, this is number 7
What garbage you post!
Looks like these Cruz followers think Ted gains another point every time they post one of the WSJ affiliated polls again.
The race in SC getting closer isn’t a surprise.
What’s a surprise is that Cruz isn’t leading easily in this state. It should be one of his strongest.
NBC again?
http://twitter.com/_HankRearden/status/699058971907268608/photo/1
Ted Cruz Joins Establishment on January 2013 when he takes office.
July 2013: Proposes amnesty for 11 million illegals, 2X’s legal immigration and 500% increase in H1B visas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHlGlNwsQb0
Oct. 2013: Joins NRSC (National Republican Senatorial Committee) and begins giving money from his leadership PAC to GOPe operatives.
2014: Serves Establishment:
Jan. 2014: Announces he will not support any challengers in 2014 Mid Terms.
March/April 2014: Supports Mitch McConnell.
July/August 2014: Cruz says he doesn’t support McConnell any more but yet remains on the NRSC.
Dec. 2015: Post election announces he is leaving the NRSC.
2015 Ensure TTP for Establishment.
Feb/March 2015: Meets with Paul Ryan and constructs road map for Chamber of Commerce requested TTP trade deal.
April 2015: Pens open letter promoting TPA with Paul Ryan.
May/2015: Creates ‘fast track’ trade rider to attach to TPA changing vote threshold for approval/disapproval to simple majority to ensure it’s passage.
May 2015: Votes down TTP amendment requiring congress’ notification prior to China/Russia joining.
June/July 2015: Votes against TPA bill he helped draft, even though his rider ensures it’s passage.
http://www.politijim.com/2016/02/the-concordance-of-cruz-corruption.html
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/tom-coburn-rips-ted-cruz-effect/2015/10/16/id/696627/
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/214989/right-stuff-ted-cruz
http://twitter.com/brandonlb/status/698738959648747520/photo/1
http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/18/ted-cruz-failed-to-disclose-ties-to-jamaican-holding-company/
And he did not know McConnell lied to him about TPA
And he did not know Corker/Iran was not the best we could do.
And he did not know he was a Canadian citzen.
And he did not know he had to file official paperwork on a loan.
And he did not know he should have told Texans in his Senate race that he has a Canadian birth certificate.
And he did not know that Glen Beck is a loon.
And he did not know he did not lose his health insurance
And he did not know he really did not liquefy all his assets
I agree such questions should be asked and answered. However, the questions should honestly worded so the answers can be the same. I disagee that your question on eminent domain meet that standard. There was much more to the event re: casinos than your question seems to assume.
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