Public Policy Polling: Donald Trump Leads GOP Field in North Carolina

I placed 'Public Policy Polling" prominently in the headline remembering that the firm was lauded as the most accurate polling outfit during the 2012 presidential election. So I don't think these findings on Trump in North Carolina are a fluke.

A lot of folks are saying Trump's a flash-in-the-pan candidate who'll burnout well before the early contests next February. I don't know? He's no Herman Cain. Trump's an entertainer who relishes the fight. He's accustomed to being on the hot seat and he doesn't need to pander for donations. Establishment types, like Charles Krauthammer, can't stand him. He's not my candidate but I'm energized that he's helped position immigration as the top issue on the policy agenda right now. Yes, the GOP needs to broaden the base. But the party also needs to take a principled stand on illegal immigration. Too many families are being hurt. We're definitely at a turning point. The Democrats should fear awakening the silent majority in 2016. It's going to be unbelievably huge.

Here's the poll, "Trump leads GOP field in North Carolina" (at Memeorandum):

PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds that Donald Trump's momentum just keeps on building. He's the top choice of Republican primary voters in the state, getting 16% to 12% for Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, 11% for Mike Huckabee, 9% for Ben Carson and Marco Rubio, 7% for Rand Paul, 6% for Ted Cruz, 5% for Chris Christie, 4% for Carly Fiorina, 2% for Rick Perry, 1% each for Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, and Rick Santorum, and less than 1% each for John Kasich and George Pataki.

Trump's favorability rating in North Carolina is 55/32, much higher than we were finding in national polls prior to his entry into the race. Trump's really caught fire with voters on the far right- 66% of 'very conservative' voters see him favorably to only 24% with a negative view of him. Trump is polling particularly well with younger voters (29%) and men (20%).

Jeb Bush had been leading our previous few polls in North Carolina. But he continues to struggle with conservatives. Among 'very conservative' Republicans, only 37% see him favorably to 44% who have a negative opinion of him and only 7% of those voters support him for the nomination, putting him in 7th place in the GOP field. Bush's overall 43/35 favorability is the second worst of any of the 10 candidates we measured that for, besting only Chris Christie's 27/41 standing.

Mike Huckabee has the highest favorability rating of the GOP hopefuls in North Carolina at 65/19. Also with particularly good numbers are Marco Rubio at 57/16 and Ben Carson at 55/10. We're not generally finding those folks at the top of the heap when it comes to preference for the nomination, but they do have a lot of goodwill that might help them move up later...

More at Memeorandum.