Trump leads as Carson fades

Trump polled at 27 percent, followed by a rising Florida Sen.

In the ballot test, Cruz has 16 percent support – and is in a statistical tie for second place with Ben Carson and Marco Rubio.

In a hypothetical general election match-up, his 10-point lead over Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton from last month has evaporated.

Both of the front-runners have a problem with trustworthiness.

Leading Carson 47 – 41 percent.

There’s also another familiar theme, as a majority of voters say both Clinton and Trump are not honest or trustworthy. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Wednesday that he would “absolutely” appoint real estate mogul Donald Trump to build a wall on the United States’ southern border. Ten points of Trump is striking distance, especially if Trump’s support, as expected, is built on a foundation of sand and name recognition, likely to dissipate as soon as Trump gets bored with having to explain himself all the time to people he can’t fire.

Trump, who was at 24 per cent one month ago, has topped almost all Republican polls since July.

What’s more, the Texas senator has endorsed a “Personhood” policy, which would have the practical effect of banning common forms of birth control.

Clinton at 46 percent to Carson’s 43 percent compared to Carson’s 50 – 40 percent lead last month.

It’s a central question of Cruz’s campaign as he gains momentum in the Republican primary: Can the uncompromising conservative unite a polarized nation and work with what he’s derisively called Washington’s “cartel” of career politicians, lobbyists and special interests? Those subgroups are also the three most important and powerful when it comes to deciding the GOP nominee in 2016.

Hasty went over the poll numbers and discussed possible reasons for the results for different candidates.

Among tea partyers, Cruz is tied with Donald Trump at 29 percent – well ahead of Carson at 17 percent and Rubio at 12.

In a statement, Hillary for America spokeswoman Christina Reynolds said, “Ted Cruz’s colorful comments can’t hide his revisionist history on the sustained Republican effort to restrict access to women’s health care”. As Trump supporters ditch him, their support will move to Cruz.

As has been the case in other polls, Trump leads the “definitely would not support” category, with 26 percent saying there’s no way they’d vote for him. That’s much more than his erstwhile mentor Jeb Bush can say.

“I consider amnesty to be forgiving the law-breaking of those who come here illegally and having no consequences and in particular, a path to citizenship”, he told reporters in Clinton, Iowa, before a campaign event, when asked to define the term.