FAU poll: Donald Trump has big lead over opponents in Florida

Trump raised questions about whether Cruz, who was born in Canada, is eligible to serve as president and criticized his ties to the banking firm Goldman Sachs. But he is viewed unfavorably by 51% of the state’s Republican voters, with 40% viewing him favorably. Even most Republican primary voters – nearly 60 percent – say they would choose another Republican presidential candidate over Trump.

One of Trump’s biggest selling points to potential supporters is that because of his wealth he largely can pay for his own campaign and thus is not beholden to donors. A split GOP field has fragmented that support, but early primaries likely will shrink the number of candidates and allow others to compete directly against Trump.

A one-two finish by Trump and Cruz in the first two contests could quickly turn the Republican primary into a two- man race.

“Right now the establishment is abandoning Marco Rubio”, said Cruz. Right now there seems to be a presidential-politics bubble coming out of Florida, whose two Republican presidential candidates are posting a very poor return on investment after spending huge sums of money with little (so far) to show for it. Its margin of error is plus or minus 4.8 percentage points.

From the minute Donald Trump announced his candidacy by declaring that Mexicans are criminals and rapists, many political pundits and progressive advocates have been waiting for his demise. On national security, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush suggested the country was less safe under Obama and declared Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, would be a “national security disaster”. Rubio’s chances: 13 percent.

The first blow came from Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who strongly denounced Cruz.

“I think it would be a big mistake for Iowa to support him”, Branstad said.

Winning Iowa by no means assures the nomination.

Cruz is on a bus tour in New Hampshire that will conclude Thursday. Just ask former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who romped to victory in the Hawkeye State in 2008 only to lose the Republican race to John McCain.

It’s not settled – because the Constitution does not define “natural born”, a phrase that appears in the nation’s founding document only once.

Cruz sharpened his tone against Trump Monday night in New Hampshire, where he reminded rally attendees that Trump had been absent in the conversation when Cruz sought to block an immigration overhaul.

It’s been a rough 48 hours for Ted Cruz as he hoped to win the support of Sarah Palin who endorsed Trump.