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Ted Cruz seeks values summit threepeat

Sen. Ted Cruz heads into this weekend’s Values Voter Summit looking to capture his third straight straw poll victory at the annual gathering of social conservatives, a victory that would send the message he’s their pick for channeling their anger with Washington into votes in the GOP presidential primary.

The departure of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker from the 2016 presidential campaign helps to answer the question of who won’t win the GOP nomination, but with 15 candidates remaining, it’s a challenge to get a good feel for where the race stands now and where it might go from here.

The New York Times helps to clarify the issue with its look at who it believes is winning at the moment, developed by looking at ... Read More >>

The top 10 GOP candidates for president, ranked

The last time I ranked the 10 people most likely to wind up as the Republican presidential nominee this year, I had Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as the third-best bet to be the GOP standard-bearer. That was Aug. 2. On Sept. 21, Walker dropped out of the race, registering as a literal asterisk in his final poll as a candidate.

Insiders: Rubio wins in Walker’s demise

Scott Walker’s exit is a big win for Marco Rubio.

That’s the consensus of Republican insiders in Iowa and New Hampshire, with about 40 percent of our POLITICO Caucus members picking the junior senator from Florida over all other GOP contenders as the one most likely to benefit from Walker’s decision to quit.

Cruz super PAC preps Christian radio onslaught

Sen. Ted Cruz’s super PAC is making its first major ad buy of the 2016 campaign, launching a $1 million national campaign on Christian and conservative talk radio to run through the end of the year, POLITICO has learned.

The polls get most of the attention, but they’re not the most important part of the early stages of a presidential campaign. The better guide to who’s really winning is known as the “invisible primary,” in which candidates compete for support from their fellow politicians, from party leaders and from donors.

After facing attacks in two debates and dealing with controversies almost daily, business executive Donald Trump has maintained a big lead in New Hampshire, while the rest of the Republican presidential field has been shaken up over the past two months.