There are two big stories in a Florida Atlantic University poll of Republican voters to be released tomorrow.
The Orlando Sun-Sentinel reports, Poll: Marco Rubio pulls ahead of Jeb Bush in Florida; Hillary Clinton in trouble:
Marco Rubio has overtaken Jeb Bush among Florida Republicans, as he benefits from positive reviews of his performance in the most recent presidential debate.A Florida Atlantic University poll to be released Wednesday shows Rubio, the state’s junior senator, is in second place in the Republican primary field in Florida. His political mentor, former Gov. Jeb Bush, is in third place.Donald Trump, the real estate investor, former reality TV show host and part-time Palm Beach resident, is in first place among Florida Republicans, as he is nationally….On the Republican side, Trump had 31.5 percent of the Republican primary vote. Rubio was second with 19.2 percent and Bush was third with 11.3 percent.
Ben Carson came in at 10.3% and Carly Fiorina at 8.3%
There’s some bad news for Democrats in the poll also. Hillary loses in Florida to Marco, Jeb and Carson, and is only tied with Trump.
Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, is far ahead of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. But the survey shows she’d lose to Rubio, Bush and Ben Carson and tie with Trump in hypothetical 2016 general election matchups.
But the big news is that Marco has surged ahead of his in-state competitor, and is positioning himself in Florida as the Trump alternative. Since Florida is winner take all, there is a strong incentive for the non-Trump vote to unify behind one person, and that one person is looking like Marco.
Jeb is in trouble.
As the Republican donor class seeks someone to counter Trump, choices are going to have to be made. At some point things tip from Jeb to Marco.
And when donors bail on Jeb, it’s over.
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