SC poll: Cruz gaining on Trump

Trump believes – as do many political observers – that he “could run the table” moving forward.

Today, they spent one last day trying to make their case, the Democrats in Nevada and the Republicans in SC.

The former Florida governor entered the 2016 presidential race as an early favorite. Bush, meanwhile, has been chasing Rubio, whom he trails in some polls by only a couple of percentage points. He can’t be president.

“I’m very much a fan of Trey Gowdy, Tim Scott and the governor”, McGriff said.

For Trump, a victory in SC could foreshadow strong showings in the collection of Southern states that vote on March 1.

The real estate billionaire finished second to Texas Senator Ted Cruz in Iowa on February 1, but secured a commanding win in New Hampshire one week later.

SC advertises its primary as “First in the South” and Republicans there take great pride in the ability to predict the eventual GOP nominee. If Cruz slips to third, behind one of the establishment candidates (Bush, Kasich, Rubio), that would be a chink in his argument that he is the true conservative, the one-and-only challenger to Trump.

In a CNN Republican town hall meeting in South Carolina Thursday, Trump was unapologetic for getting into a fight with Pope Francis after the pontiff said Trump “is not a Christian” because of grand plans to have Mexico pay for a wall on the US border and a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Rubio, a Florida senator, toured the state with high-profile SC supporters, including popular Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen.

Jackie Terrell, who was “99% sure” she will vote for Rubio, said she will be shocked if Trump can hold onto his lead.

“I’ve been in politics for a while, I’ve never seen anything like it”, said Nate Leupp, co-chair of the Republican Party of Greenville and a self-described evangelical voter.

Mr Bush hopes his deep family ties to SC – his brother and father each won two primaries here – will be a lifeline for his struggling campaign.

“I’m going to get on my hands and knees and ask for your vote”, Bush said. But Bush has competition on that front, chiefly from Marco Rubio and John Kasich. He is looking toward Midwest primaries in states like MI and OH to boost his campaign. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson had a small but loyal cadre of followers. Still, Clinton’s network of support and ground game has a good chance of forestalling the Sanders surge.

Clinton is hoping to offset Sanders’ youth support by winning big majorities among blacks and Hispanics. Clinton, once thought to be the prohibitive favorite for the nomination, wants a heaping helping of reassurance from Nevada, whose diversity is thought to work to her advantage. “We’re thinking about legacy now”, said the donor according to Politico. “If it’s a low turnout. that may be another story”.

Fifty-seven percent of Republicans think the media is biased against Trump, more than say so of any other candidate.

For reasons we shall not bore you with, Democrats and Republicans are having nominating contests 2,600 miles apart (capital to capital) on Saturday. I realize I’ve been neglecting the Democratic primary here at BurkaBlog, but I’ll continue to do so until next week, because that party has less at stake Saturday than the Republicans do: Bernie Sanders may win, or Hillary Clinton may win; neither outcome would have a dispositive impact on either’s ability to eventually clinch the nomination.