Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has pulled ahead of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the national Republican presidential race, although he still lags 15 points behind billionaire hotelier Donald Trump in a Rasmussen poll released Tuesday.
The Rasmussen poll showed support for Trump at 36 percent, while Rubio stood at 21 percent and Cruz at 17 percent. This represents gain of five points for Trump, while support for Cruz has dropped three points, thus widening Rubio’s lead as second-place contender (he polled at 21 percent in the last Rasmussen poll as well).
This is consistent with other polling, which has shown Rubio holding an advantage in the long-running struggle between the two senators to lock down second place.
TPM’s PollTracker Average shows Trump at 36.3 percent, Cruz at 17.6 percent and Rubio at 17 percent.
The Rasmussen poll was carried out from Feb. 21-22 by automated phone interview. Pollsters surveyed 697 likely Republican voters with a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Sure wish “Rasmussen” had been in the title. 30 seconds of my life that I can never get back.
Cruz: God told me last night that this is part of the plan. He doesnt want to make Rubio and Trump feel disheartened after Iowa.
As Trump so eloquently put it:
“When we get in with Putin we need people that don’t sweat. Let me tell you. No, it’s true. We gotta have people that don’t sweat,” Trump said of Rubio a rally in Greenville, South Carolina.
“Can you imagine Putin sitting there and waiting for the meeting and this guy walks in and he’s like a wreck? No, you got to have Trump walk into that meeting folks, we’ll do very nicely.”
Trump mocked Rubio’s tendency to perspire on stage and said his rival had a “meltdown” at Saturday’s Republican presidential debate.
“No, he was standing right there, no, he was soaking wet, I’m telling you,” he continued. "He was wet. I say ‘What the hell’s going on over here?’ I thought he just came out of a swimming pool, he was soaking. I look, I said, 'Wow, are you OK?’”
How’s this:
A new Quinnipiac poll in Ohio finds Donald Trump leads the GOP primary race with 31%, followed by John Kasich at 26%, Ted Cruz at 21%, Marco Rubio at 13% and Ben Carson at 5%.
Jeb’s votes seem to be going to Trump. John Bush the Acronym ¿Jeb? spent $1375 per vote across IA (5,165 votes), NH (31,310 votes) and SC (58,012 votes). He spent upward of $130 million. Great job ¡¡Jeb!!