Trump up 4 points over Cruz in Quinnipiac poll

That’s according to a Quinnipiac University poll out today, which finds 50 percent of American voters say they would be “embarrassed to have Trump as president”.

It’s also an improvement for Christie, who was at 2 percent when Quinnipiac last did a national poll of Republicans in November. Among all of those questioned, the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

While he has been trailing in the polls both nationally and in New Hampshire, he has been rising steadily, in part, based on his strong debate performances.

Mr Bush plans to compete seriously in New Hampshire, with a schedule that has him in the north of the state before Christmas, and back again for several days before New Year’s Day.

Trump’s insult to Clinton comes after the former secretary of state and NY senator said the Islamic State is using videos of the real estate mogul making incendiary comments about Muslims to recruit new members. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would crush the businessman by 51 percent to 38 percent. Christie was not matched up against either Democrat.

“Half of American voters say they’d be embarrassed to have Donald Trump as their Commander in Chief and most Americans think he doesn’t have a good chance in November, but there he is still at the top of the Republican heap”, said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Not even Hillary Clinton’s bathroom breaks are off limits for Donald Trump. On the same issue, the poll did not ask voters about Bernie Sanders or Martin O’Malley.

Donald Trump’s lead over Ted Cruz has shrunk to just 4 percentage points in the second national poll after last week’s Republican debate. Marco Rubio was third at 12 percent and Ben Carson was next at 6 percent.

Clinton and Cruz are tied 44 – 44 percent. The Quinnipiac poll found that Cruz tops Trump among voters who say honesty is the most important characteristic a presidential candidate should have. Only 23% of all voters would be proud to have Trump as president. Among Republicans, however, he was viewed favorably by 63 percent and unfavorably by 30 percent. “I think the answer is yes”, said former New Hampshire Republican Party chairman Fergus Cullen, who is neutral in the race.

The poll questioned 1,140 registered voters from December 16 through Sunday, a period that included a Republican debate and a Democratic debate, each of which was televised nationwide.