A prophet may not be honored at home, but a politician needs to be. At least if he hopes to prevail.
A new poll hints Sen. Ted Cruz has a bit of a problem in his home state of Texas.
Donald Trump is now the frontrunner there, according to the latest survey. Trump now polls at 24 percent in Texas, roughly what he gets nationally. Cruz drops to second in his home state with 16 percent. Longtime Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a non-factor, polling just 4 percent alongside Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
The poll, commissioned for a group called the Texas Bipartisan Justice Committee, was conducted by Gravis Marketing. It’s the first such survey since June, when Trump was just getting into the race. Back then Cruz polled a solid 20 percent, and Perry seemed a threat at home with 12 percent.
In the months since, of course, Perry has repeatedly targeted Trump, especially over immigration policy. Those attacks would seem to have backfired for Perry, who’s keeping up a travel schedule but is struggling even to raise enough money to pay his staffers.
Texas will hold its primary on Super Tuesday, March 1, along with nine other, mostly southern states.