Cruz Cruises To Second In GOP Power Ranking
USA Today has released its GOP Power Rankings today, and for the first time in the 14 weeks of the ranking this cycle, Ted Cruz is solidly in second place behind Donald Trump. The ranking is derived by polling political experts, and the purpose is to determine which candidate has the strongest position/campaign.
Here’s the skinny from USA Today:
“The biggest news of the week was Ted Cruz’s surge in Iowa,” said Emory University professor Andra Gillespie. “One of the interesting features of this cycle has been the crowded evangelical field, where no one candidate has dominated and (Donald) Trump has held his own. Social conservatives may have found their candidate in Ted Cruz.”
Trump remains No. 1 in our survey, with 17 first-place votes. While he has continued to toss out comments that are considered poor taste or inaccurate, he is the unquestioned front-runner.
But Cruz and Marco Rubio are gaining ground. Rubio actually took more first-place votes in our survey (seven) than Cruz (four), but Cruz scored higher in total because 19 of our experts put him in second place.
Cruz is solid and has been surging in the polls, and Rubio’s steady campaign remains at the top of every list. It has become increasingly clear since the last debate that Trump, Cruz, and Rubio are the three real contenders in this race, despite the concerted and seemingly inexhaustible effort on the part of the GOP establishment to convince voters of the viability, if not inevitability, of the just plain unpopular Jeb Bush.
Here are the top ten. Visit USA Today for the full list and the previous 13 weeks of power rankings.
- Donald Trump (LAST WEEK: 1)
- Ted Cruz (3)
- Marco Rubio (2)
- Ben Carson (4)
- Jeb Bush (5)
- Chris Christie (6)
- Carly Fiorina (8)
- John Kasich (7)
- Rand Paul (9)
- Mike Huckabee (10)
http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/cruz-cruises-second-gop-power-ranking
