With a 21 percentage-point leap that smashes records for momentum increase in recent Iowa caucuses history, Ted Cruz is dominating in the state and could be considered one of the favorites to win the GOP place in the race for the White House, says USA Today.
This growth from Cruz in the Iowa poll clearly bothered Donald Trump. The businessman attacked Cruz during an Iowa stop Friday night, before the results were announced on Saturday. Trump’s reaction comes in a moment when he’s behind the cuban GOP candidate 10 percent in Iowa. Another Republican front-runner, Ben Carson, has dropped 15 percent and is now in third place.
An impressive popularity growth for Ted Cruz
“Big shakeup. This is a sudden move into a commanding position for Cruz.”, said J. Ann Selzer, pollster for The Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll, according to the same source. In the last Iowa poll, Cruz was at 10%. Now, his popularity exploded and he stands at 31%. For example, Carson was at 28% in the poll two months ago, while Trump’s highest support was 23% in August, when he led the field by 5 points.
When it comes to first- and second-choice interest combined, Cruz is again on top of the table, with 51%. “It’s certainly possible that he could win Iowa big — very big,” said Frank Luntz, a Nevada-based GOP focus group guru, quoted by USA Today.
But in a four-way head-to-head match-up between Trump, Cruz, Carson and Marco Rubio, the first is considered to be the best at managing the economy and doing the most to solve the illegal immigration problem. According to the same source, about 49% believe Trump “knows the most about how to get things done,” while only 22% say that of Cruz.
Ben Carson’s chances, lower with each day
Carson, who’s down at 13%, is not viewed as a President capable to fight against terrorism. Rubio comes fourth, ith 10%, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who seemed a certain front-runner, is in fifth position, with only 6%, but up one point. Three Republicans are tied at 3%: Paul,former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
“Iowa’s 11th commandment is thou shalt be nice. Donald Trump has violated this commandment one too many times. Now he is paying the price.”, said Jamie Johnson, an Iowa political operative who was senior director for former presidential candidate Rick Perry’s campaign.
Donald Trump will most likely be the Republican nominee
The Iowa poll could indicate that people are starting to clear their opinion on Donald Trump. He’s now seen as a get-it-done problem-solver on the federal deficit, on dealing with the aggressive president of Russia, and on combating Islamic terrorism, but weak when it comes to his temperament, ability to work effectively with Congress, and on values, says USA Today. Those are just the aspects where Cruz maxed out.
The Iowa Poll of 400 likely Republican caucusgoers was conducted Dec. 7-10 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
