Recent News

Winners, losers in final GOP debate before Super Tuesday

There were fireworks galore when the Republican presidential candidates took to the stage on Thursday night for their final clash before Super Tuesday.

Front-runner Donald Trump came to the CNN debate in Houston knowing that he would be in good shape for the dozen GOP contests on March 1 unless one of his most serious rivals — Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz — was able to fundamentally reshape the trajectory of the race.

Jeb Bush, who dropped out of the race on February 21, shared the most donors with Marco Rubio—more than he shared with all other Republicans still in the race. Rubio declared earlier than Bush, in April 2015, and initially led in campaign contributions.

Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio at last seized the challenge of trying to slow Donald Trump’s momentum before Super Tuesday. Dropping their long-running attacks on each other, they went after the billionaire aggressively—following sustained criticism that they were making no direct attempt to keep the front-runner from sewing up the nomination in March. But without coordination or emphasis, their scattershot attacks were less effective. Trump was ready to parry and retaliate, showing once again that he can’t be felled easily.

After winning the Iowa caucuses it appeared that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was well positioned to become the leading alternative to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. A better-than-expected third place finish in New Hampshire, coupled with the apparent faltering of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio – his chief rival for the not-Trump vote – had some observers thinking that the race was playing out exactly as needed for Cruz to win.

Two and a half weeks later, few would make the same assessment. ... Read More >>

Trump up by 6 points in Pennsylvania

Republican primary front-runner Donald Trump sits atop the GOP field in Pennsylvania ahead of its April 26 primary, according to a new poll.

Trump has 22 percent support in Thursday’s Franklin & Marshall College poll, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) with 16 percent, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) with 15 percent and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) with 12 percent.

Four lessons from the first four primaries

Six months ago, if anyone suggested that one candidate would win three of the first four Republican contests and come second in the fourth, you’d have thought he was talking about the nominee. The rules are different for Donald Trump — so different that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) could insist Trump “underperformed what Mitt Romney did in Nevada,” and be received credibly on Fox News.

Poll: Trump’s negatives among Hispanics rise; worst in GOP field

Donald Trump has used the issue of immigration to help make himself the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, but his harsh rhetoric also has earned him the highest negative ratings among Hispanic voters of any major GOP hopeful, according to a Washington Post-Univision News poll.