GOP Presidential Power Rankings: It’s Cruz’s turn in the spotlight

When you take the latest Quinnipiac that came out today and compare to newest FOX News released December 18 that showed Trump with a more commanding 21-point lead but with the Texas senator rising to a then-high of 18 percent in a national poll.

The poll shows Trump with just a four-point edge over Cruz, who recorded 24 per cent of support from Republican party voters.

Despite his GOP frontrunner status, 50 percent of American voters nevertheless told Quinnipiac that they would be “embarrassed” to have Trump as the face of the U.S.

His message seems to be that voters enamored of former reality TV star Donald Trump need to start doing some soul-searching about whether they really want him as the country’s next commander-in-chief – or whether it’s time to put an end to the carnival and gravitate towards more experienced and rational candidates.

The survey of 1,627 likely voters from all parties was conducted between December 16 and December 21, with a credibility interval of 2.8 to 3.7 percentage points.

Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton continues to enjoy a large lead over Bernie Sanders, winning 61 percent of the vote to Sanders’ 30 percent.

“Sen. Ted Cruz is snapping at his heels”, added Malloy.

“Most Americans think [Trump] doesn’t have a good chance in November, but there he is, still at the top of the Republican heap”, said Tim Malloy, director of the poll.

If Clinton is elected, 33 percent of all voters would be proud and 35 percent would be embarrassed. Other Republicans apparently pose greater threats to the GOP: Cruz and Clinton tie at 44 percent each, and Clinton only beats Rubio 44 percent to 43 percent.

But among Republicans, that number jumps to 44 percent.

Sixty-one percent described Cruz as prepared, compared to 48 percent for Rubio, and then 29 percent for Trump and 22 percent for Carson.