The 'Donald Trump juggernaut' just reached new heights in a national poll

Colin Campbell
February 17, 2015

Property magnate Donald Trump crushed his GOP competition in a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Indeed, the pollster reported that "the Donald Trump juggernaut rolls" to a two-to-one lead over his primary foes in the survey.

Quinnipiac said Trump's 39% support in its national poll was his highest total yet.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) trailed with 19% support, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who had 18%. The other candidates were all in single digits.

Quinnipiac's previous survey, released February 5, showed Trump with 31% support, compared to Cruz's 22% and Rubio's 19%.

The pollster's statement announcing its latest results described Trump's dominance in dramatic terms.

"Reports of Donald Trump's imminent demise as a candidate are clearly and greatly exaggerated. Like a freight train barreling through signals with his horn on full blast, Trump heads down the track towards a possible nomination," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Malloy also said that his poll had a bit of good news for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R). A full 74% of Republicans said that Bush had the right kind of experience to be president, compared to Trump's 60%. But only 4% of the Republican voters responding to the survey picked Bush as their candidate.

"There is a 'but.' Trump's raw numbers are formidable, but he trails the pack on some 'from the gut' character measurements," Malloy said. "And the kind of bright spot that Jeb Bush supporters, few as they be, may grab ahold of. The former Florida governor polls best in the pack on 'experience.'"

The next presidential-primary state for Republicans is South Carolina, which will vote on Saturday. Trump has also led in polls of that state. A CNN/ORC survey released Tuesday found Trump leading Cruz 38% to 22% there.

http://www.businessinsider.com/quinn...america-2016-2