Trump tops polls, but Cruz on the rise

According to the New York Times, the arch-conservative Mr Cruz could emerge as the preferred nominee of far-right Republicans, competing against Mr Trump – cast as an anti-establishment candidate – and against a possible third candidate representing the centre-right of the party.

Ted Cruz has soared ahead of Donald Trump in a new Iowa poll, opening up a 10-point lead in the critical first-in-the-nation voting state.

Both Mr Cruz and Mr Trump have been campaigning heavily in Iowa, and hope victory in the 1 February caucus will galvanise their race for the Republican nomination. Cruz’s rise marks a 21 % enchancment from the same poll taken in mid-Oct.

With the exception of immigration and the blocking of Muslims at the USA border, “Trump’s actual policy positions are generally more moderate than Cruz’s, and his support within the GOP primary electorate does not look particularly ideological”, wrote Vox’s Matthew Yglesias earlier this month.

The Iowa Poll of 400 likely Republican caucusgoers was conducted December 7-10 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines.

DONALD TRUMP: I do like Ted Cruz, but not a lot of Evangelicals come out of Cuba. Rick Santorum in 2012 and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008.

Trump has often derided the Des Moines Register, Iowa’s largest newspaper, as biased against him.

This poll result will play a role in determining whether Paul is on the main stage for the Las Vegas debate Tuesday night, or if he’ll be with the underdogs in the undercard debate.

In the audio leaked to the Times, Cruz said his approach has been to “bear hug” Trump. He went on to say “Sorry to disappoint – realDonaldTrump is terrific”.

At the private meeting, after naming entities that have criticized him in the past – including President Barack Obama, leading Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and the Wall Street Journal – Cruz told his supporters: “My response to all of that was, ‘Thank you for the endorsement'”.

In keeping with Iowa tradition, the poll suggests there will be lots of late deciders, so Cruz can’t coast.

A minority of 40 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers support making abortion illegal, including in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. Sixty one percent want to abolish the Internal Revenue Service.

“If we win Iowa”, he said, “I think we’re going to win everything after that”. He could point out that Cruz has said he favors a return to the gold standard, and that his (Cruz’s) tax plan contains a hidden 19 percent national sales tax.