Pope shines spotlight on GOP minority challenges

Billionaire Donald Trump and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush rounded out the bottom of the favorability poll at 43 percent and 42 percent, respectively.

Don’t stop believin’. At least for the next 32 hours or so.

Cruz’s short-term dilemma has received plenty of attention: Donald Trump is on the verge of a big victory in the South Carolina Republican primary, according to most polls, and could easily capture all 50 of the Palmetto State’s delegates.

Fifteen percent of blacks and 31 percent of Hispanics have a favorable view of Rubio, the new poll found. Cruz earns positive marks from 11 percent of black voters and 29 percent of Hispanics, while Trump finishes at the bottom with favorable ratings from just 8 percent of blacks and 16 percent of Hispanics.

Cruz garnered just one high-level endorsement, Rep. Jeff Duncan.

New Hampshire was a stumbling block for Rubio, where he came in fifth after a dismal debate there. In fact, after SC, the only winner-take-all states with a high proportion of evangelical Protestants are Indiana, Missouri and West Virginia – all of which are winner-take-all by congressional district.

Lombardi also noted that the Pope said he was not sure exactly what Trump had said about illegal immigration and “would give him the benefit of the doubt” until he did.

The poll also showed that about 51 percent of 600 likely GOP voters said they support the idea of a temporary ban of Muslims entering the US while 40 percent said they opposed it, the News reports.

Democrats have heavily criticized Snyder for weeks about Flint’s lead-contaminated water since the governor declared a state of emergency on January 5. Doubtful, but could be!

Most respondents went into a long and rambling explanation about how they made up their minds and seemed not to have a firm time period for their decisions, according to a media release about the poll.

Barry Wynn, a member of Bush’s national finance team and former South Carolina Republican Party chairman, says he is convinced Bush can benefit from the family’s popularity, but he also acknowledges the pressure Bush faces.

The other X factor right now is Rubio. Ted Cruz, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll finds. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida to justify asking donors to help him finance the next round of campaigning, which includes the Nevada caucuses and, more importantly, the March 1 Super Tuesday primaries. After Rubio skipped a scheduled speech at the Conservative Review Convention Thursday, Cruz sent out a statement insisting Rubio isn’t a conservative and is hiding behind his “liberal record on amnesty for illegals”.

PolitiFact rating Cruz’s nepotism claims as… “After all, it comes down to a numbers game”, Hughes said. In all five of those polls, he trails Cruz.