Again when a non-candidate comes out with one that matches this I will be elated.
2012 poll several days before the SC primary...
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/01/13/new-south-carolina-polls-romney-1st-then-newt-and-santorum/
Romney 28%
Gingrich 21%
Santorum 16%
Paul 16%
Perry 6%
Huntsman 5%
In the actual results, Paul, Perry and Huntsman went down and Gingrich went way up:
Newt Gingrich 40.42%
Mitt Romney 27.85%
Rick Santorum 16.97%
Ron Paul 12.98%
Herman Cain 1.05%
Rick Perry 0.42%
Jon Huntsman 0.19%
Michele Bachmann 0.08%
Gary Johnson 0.03%
The question might be, who is Trump more like in the minds of the voters, Romney or Gingrich? Cruz is clearly trying to line him up with Romney. If it works, it stands to reason Cruz would get his votes and experience a Gingrich-like surge. OTOH, the frontrunner didn’t experience any drop in 2012, only the lower echelon of candidates. People seemed to not want to waste their vote, so if those votes go away from Carson, Kasich and Jeb this time, I seriously doubt they’ll go with Trump, but Cruz and Rubio will be competing for them.