Donald Trump ‘not a conservative,’ but still leads South Carolina poll
GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, trying to hold off a surge from Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in South Carolina, took his campaign message in a shocking direction: away from conservatism and instead will be populism and nationalism.
In the latest Cruz ad blitz is a clip with a small boy holding a Trump action figure, shouting, “Look, I got the Trump action figure! He pretends to be a Republican!” He then uses the action figure to brag about giving money to Democrats and engaging in eminent domain.
Trump won’t be able to trump Cruz on conservatism, so Trump says he’s running a nationalist and populist campaign. His enemies include both Republicans and conservatives:
Remember, it was the Republican Party, with the help of Conservatives, that made so many promises to their base, BUT DIDN’T KEEP THEM! Hi DT
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2016
photo/ donkeyhotey
According to Trump, then, conservatives helped bamboozle the Republican base, along with the Republican establishment.
He’s going to campaign as a post-ideological candidate, like in his next tweet, “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”
The South Carolina polls all show Trump ahead by double digits. With an open primary, Trump has 35 percent support in a new poll, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas are tied for second place — at 18 percent each, according to a Public Policy Polling survey released exclusively Monday to The State.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich is in fourth at 10 percent support, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, tied with 7 percent support each.
Public Policy interviewed 897 likely GOP primary voters Sunday and Monday – the first look at how after Saturday night’s Republican presidential debate affected the race. The poll has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.
The GOP poll suggests Trump’s debate performance – in which he criticized former President George W. Bush for the 2001 terror attacks – may not be hurting the frontrunner in a state that has deep ties to the Bush family.
Trump wins New Hampshire photo/ donkeyhotey
