Going into a Thanksgiving weekend when a lot of people will sit around, eat too much, watch football, and talk politics, at least in the all-important state of Iowa, Texas Senator Ted Cruz finds himself in a pretty sweet spot. The anti-establishment presidential candidate has surged into a statistical tie with Donald Trump. With about 75 days to go, Trump leads with 25% support, Cruz is right there with him at 23%.
In October, Ben Carson led Iowa with 28% support. The retired neurosurgeon lost a whopping -10 points and now sits in third place with just 18%.
Trump gained +5 points. Cruz surged an incredible +13 points. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the new GOP Establishment favorite, is stuck at 13%, the same support he had last month. Jeb Bush is the walking dead with just 4% support.
When you total up the Trump/Cruz/Carson anti-Establishment vote, a full two-third (66%) of Iowa primary voters want nothing to do with the GOP
The favorable/unfavorable numbers are a nightmare for Jeb Bush.
Bush 39-53
Carson 79-15
Christie 45-40
Cruz 73-15
Fiorina 60-19
Rubio 70-18
Paul 41-44
Trump 59-34
With Carson in freefall (which might be temporary), primarily due to questions surrounding his grasp of foreign policy, and Trump’s serial verbal-flirtations with political danger again in the headlines, Cruz might find himself in the perfect spot for those concerned with the general election viability of Carson and Cruz, but still looking to stick it to the Establishment.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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