At WSJ, "Poll: Donald Trump Widens His Lead in Republican Presidential Race":
WASHINGTON— Donald Trump has opened a double-digit lead over his next-closest Republican rival, less than three weeks before the first votes of the 2016 presidential race are cast, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.More.
A third of people who said they would vote in a Republican primary in the nationwide survey said they favored Mr. Trump to be the GOP nominee, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 20% support, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 13% and retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 12%.
In December, Mr. Trump had led the No. 2 candidate, Mr. Cruz, by 5 percentage points. In the new poll, his lead widened to 13 points.
The survey casts doubt on the prospect that so-called establishment voters will rally behind an alternative to Messrs. Cruz and Trump, as far more GOP primary voters favor the two outsiders over candidates with more conventional messages and resumés.
As evidence, Mr. Trump preserves his lead when the field is reduced to five candidates in a hypothetical ballot, and again when it is culled to just three.
In a three-way match-up with Messrs. Cruz and Rubio, 40% favor Mr. Trump, while 31% support Mr. Cruz, who has drawn support heavily from social conservatives. Mr. Rubio, a favorite of many centrist, business-friendly Republicans, garners just 26%.
“Trump shows remarkable resiliency with the GOP primary electorate and has even increased his support since December, while Cruz has leveled off,” said Fred Yang, a Democratic pollster at Hart Research who conducts the Journal/NBC poll with Republican Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies...
And at NBC News, via Memeorandum, "Trump More Than Doubles National Lead in NBC/WSJ Poll."
Check back for more political blogging with coverage of the Charleston debate throughout the evening.
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