AP Conversation: Bush sees conservatism at stake in ’16

Despite such fears, talk of a “takedown” effort aimed at either Trump or Cruz appears to have faded as the February 1 caucuses in Iowa near.

One person who will be in attendance at the North Charleston GOP debate is Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

Chris Christie, John Kasich and Jeb Bush – two current and one former governor – are all hovering in the single-digits nationally and are looking to New Hampshire as the state that will likely make or break their candidacies.

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen.

When combined, Cruz leads Trump 48 percent to 33 percent. But television ads in Iowa from the anti-tax group Club for Growth about Trump’s support for “massive new power to take private property and give it to corporations” don’t seem to have hurt him thus far. And Rick Santorum said the issue of Cruz’s birth “is not settled law”. Remember that? What happened was that Trump goes after Cruz, but he did so using liberal language. Trump in the past has said that Cruz is eligible to be president since he is a “natural-born citizen”, but a week ago began questioning Cruz’s eligibility since he was born to a Canadian mother.

The Texas senator has largely declined to return fire, opting to brush aside questions from reporters or respond with humor.

At the moment, national polls show Trump way out in front in the race for the nomination, with 35% support, according to a RealClearPolitics average of the latest surveys.

“Well, look, I think he may shift in his new rallies to play “New York, New York” because Donald comes from New York and he embodies New York values”, Cruz said, referring to the famous Frank Sinatra song… “If you know and when we all studied our history lessons, you are supposed to be born in this country, so I just don’t know how the courts would rule on it. It’s an additional hurdle that he has”, Trump said last week.

There are signs that Trump’s onslaught is at least resonating with some voters.

Will anyone come to Cruz’s defense?

And it’s not clear how many of Cruz’s fellow Republican are willing to defend him.

The issue is complicated, and the merits have never been fully litigated.

“What he’s doing is right, he took a stand”, Trump said, referring to Cruz’s 20-hour long anti-Obamacare filibuster on the Senate floor. “The point is, you’re not”. You’ve been really leading on this issue a long time, Hugh. The early establishment favorite, Jeb has become a pariah in his own party. No other candidate gets more than 8% support nationally.

That puts a big target first on Rubio’s back. As for Cruz, does he laugh off these lines of attack, or continue to return fire as he’s just begun to do in New Hampshire?

The ad, titled “Enough”, is now airing in New Hampshire and is part of the campaign’s rotating $4.6 million ad buy in the state.

Among the three, there may be only one ticket out of the Granite State.

Before a general election against presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton, a heretofore unlikely scenario for Bush, there are the primary contests and yet more debates. The same poll had Cruz also behind Clinton, but by a slimmer margin: 45% to 48%. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), 57 percent to 36 percent.

“I think it’s good politics for Jeb”, Fergus Cullen, a former New Hampshire Republican Party chairman, told NPR.

That’s especially true after Trump and Cruz finally dropped the niceties with each other.

In the interview, Trump also commented on SC governor Nikki Haley’s response to the State of the Union address. Donald Trump, a birther’s birther, is now making a similar claim about Senator Ted Cruz.

The retired neurosurgeon’s sudden surge in the polls caught many by surprise.