Recent News

And when will there be three?

You can take the results of the robo poll conducted by the Democratic outfit PPP with a big grain of salt. Nevertheless, the underlying analysis is correct:

Trump actually ranks 8th out of the 12 candidates in New Hampshire in net favorability with only 49% of GOP voters seeing him favorably to 44% with a negative opinion.

USA TODAY GOP Power Rankings: Carson and Fiorina fading

2016 begins with some outsider candidates finding themselves out of the picture in USA TODAY’s weekly GOP Power Rankings.

Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina tallied their worst scores this week since we started this survey Sept. 1, asking 30 political experts who is the strongest candidate in the GOP field.

With just a handful of weeks until the Iowa Caucuses, the race for the Republican presidential nomination is entering the home stretch.

Here’s a look at the 13 candidates remaining in the Republican field - and their path to victory … or defeat.

Donald Trump winning over evangelicals despite lacking overt faith

Republican presidential contenders are proudly announcing their faith, quoting Scripture on the stump and cozying up to religious leaders Wednesday, as the battle heated up to win over evangelical voters who often are key to victory.

But front-runner Donald Trump continues to attract strong support among evangelical voters, who in most states make up half or more of the GOP primary electorate, without overtly trumpeting religious themes.

Donald Trump has 14-point lead in New Hampshire: poll

Billionaire businessman and GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump has a 14-point lead over his nearest Republican rival, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, in a new poll on the early state of New Hampshire.

Mr. Trump was at 29 percent in the survey from the Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling, with Mr. Rubio at 15 percent.

The latest poll out of New Hampshire shows Donald Trump maintaining a big lead, sitting at 29 percent a full 14 to 19 percent over Rubio, Cruz, Bush, Kasich, and Christie.

But those are just the headline numbers of the poll. If you really want to understand the significance of a poll, you can’t merely consume the headline numbers. You have to read a poll, and parse it.

Ben Carson’s last stand

Ben Carson plans to jump-start his stalled campaign in Iowa, a state central to his fortunes where he once led in polls.

After stumbling through November and December — slipping from the top tier of the crowded Republican field to the middle of the pack — the retired neurosurgeon said Wednesday he plans to spend 16 days this month in Iowa ahead of its Feb. 1 caucuses, reorienting his campaign after months of scattershot appearances all over the country.