There’s a new frontrunner every week…
Via Hot Air:
As the 2016 presidential cycle looms larger in the minds of political reporters, the “invisible primary” is becoming less and less opaque.
The hawkish casino magnate, notable establishmentarian, and prolific GOP donor Sheldon Adelson is reportedly beginning to turn a favorable eye toward Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). According to Politico, Adelson sees Rubio as “the future of the Republican Party.”
“He has also said that Rubio’s Cuban heritage and youth would give the party a strong opportunity to expand its brand and win the White House,” Politico reported.
Adelson might be making a smart bet. According the latest Quinnipiac poll, Rubio now leads the field of Republican candidates as the top choice of GOP primary voters to win the party’s presidential nomination. “The Republican primary field shows Rubio with 15 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 13 percent and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker with 11 percent,” the Quinnipiac University poll’s release read. “No other candidate tops 9 percent and 14 percent remain undecided.”
Rubio’s bounce in the polls follows his presidential announcement ten days ago. Although Rubio’s boost in support is apparently more pronounced than those of Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY), both of these candidates experienced a similar bounce in polls of GOP voters following their campaign unveilings.
While it may be tempting to write off Rubio’s bounce as a natural outgrowth of the hype that accompanied his announcement, the Florida senator’s performance against Hillary Clinton in this poll is harder to dismiss. Of the seven Republican candidates Quinnipiac tested, Rubio comes closest to besting Clinton in a head-to-head matchup. In this survey, 43 percent of respondents backed Rubio while 45 percent expressed support for Clinton; a finding within this survey’s 2.7 percent margin of error.