Poll: Donald Trump Firmly Consolidates Lead Atop GOP Primary Field (VIDEO)

At CNN, via Memeorandum, "Trump dominates GOP field heading into 2016."

And at WSJ, "Donald Trump Poised to Enter New Year as Clear GOP Front-Runner":

Donald Trump is poised to enter the new year as the clear front-runner in the GOP presidential contest, with support for the celebrity businessman growing in the latest CNN/ORC poll.

The new survey finds Mr. Trump leading the GOP field with 39% of the vote — up from 36% earlier this month. He leads his closest rival Sen. Ted Cruz by more than 20 points. Mr. Trump has been on top of the Republican field, according to CNN’s polling, since July.

As he has consolidated his position atop the GOP field, Mr. Trump has turned his attention to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton — marking a new phase in the primary campaign.

He has demanded an apology from Mrs. Clinton for suggesting his words were being used by Islamic State for recruitment, deployed a vulgar term to describe her 2008 loss to Barack Obama, and said it was “disgusting” that she took a bathroom break during last week’s debate.

Mr. Cruz has surged in the polls, though he trails Mr. Trump significantly. He now draws 18% in the latest CNN poll — up from 4% in October. A Quinnipiac poll this week showed a much closer race, with Messrs. Cruz and Trump within four points of one other and each drawing about a quarter of the Republican vote.

Former neurosurgeon Ben Carson has slipped in the polls in recent months, drawing 10% support in the latest poll. That’s down from 14% in early December and and 22% in October. His campaign has been rocked by questions about his command of foreign affairs and allegations he invented key portions of his life story.

Sen. Marco Rubio also draws 10% of the GOP vote in the latest poll, with no one else in the field cracking double-digits.

Support for Mr. Trump is based on his perceived competence on the issues. In CNN’s poll, 57% of Republicans said he was best able to handle the economy, 55% said he was the best candidate to tackle immigration and 47% said he would be the strongest in fighting the terrorist group Islamic State.

Republicans seem split on Mr. Trump’s electability, with 50% saying that the party has a better shot of winning the presidency in 2016 with a different candidate. By contrast, 46% said Mr. Trump was the strongest candidate. That’s up from August, when just 38% of Republicans said Mr. Trump was the party’s best shot at winning back the White House.

The CNN poll was conducted between Dec. 17-21 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points...

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