Trump Jumps In Polls, Now Preferred Candidate By One In Three GOP Voters

Donald Trump’s lead in the polls just grew again, as other, more conventional Republicans slip. Will he be the GOP nominee?

Sure, there’s more than a year until Election Day 2016. But Donald Trump’s performance – on stage and in the polls – is unprecedented in modern-day politics. Despite – or because of – attacking everything an everyone on sight, Trump’s bombastic, anti-immigrant, anti-almost-everything rhetoric has unleashed the anger and hate in a large group of conservative voters who feel oppressed by a president the majority of whom say they still don’t believe he is Christian and a plurality say he wasn’t born in America.

CNN has just released a new poll, and again it shown Trump not only in the lead, but by a wide and growing margin. Nearly one in three Republicans – 32 percent – put Trump on top.

Shockingly, Trump’s gains come from those he’s been making vile remarks about: women.

Trump is “up 13 points among women, rising from 20% in August to 33% now. Trump has also boosted his share of the vote among college graduates, increasing his support among those with degrees from 16% in August to 28% now.”

Here’s the breakdown:

 

Note that Chris Christie just squeezes into a tie with Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Anyone below those two, who are barely hanging on, should drop out now, but won’t, except perhaps for Rick Perry who is bleeding cash and staff.

Will Trump be the GOP nominee? It’s still anyone’s guess, but every day it looks increasingly likely. 

UPDATE:

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent just published his take on the poll:

Trump’s attention to illegal immigration is making GOP voters more concerned about it than they might otherwise be. And when I say “more concerned,” I mean, “concerned about it in the way that Trump is concerned about it.” Trump is telling the tale that immigrants are to blame for the suffering of American workers. GOP voters just might be listening. That increased concern, in turn, may be leading those voters to support Trump in disproportionate numbers. The monster is feeding on itself.

 

Image by JoshuaMHoover via Flickr and a CC license