Ben Carson is leading Donald Trump by a narrow 24 to 23 percent lead, a new
McClatchy/Marist poll shows, but for him, and Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, the best news may be that the more people hear about them, the more they like them.
The new poll numbers show:
- Carson: 24 percent
- Trump: 23 percent
- Rubio: 12 percent
- Cruz and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: 8 percent.
"It's huge," Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducts the survey, said about voters' early impressions. "This is an electorate unusually attentive that's watching these debates."
Carson's likeability ratings among people who have heard more about him have climbed to 67 percent. Other winners, according to that criteria, show:
- 67 percent for Carson
- 58 percent like Rubio,
- 51 percent like Cruz.
But growing familiarity isn't playing as well for others, with lower favorability ratings for:
- Trump: 44 percent
- Jeb Bush: 32 percent
- Carly Fiorina: 46 percent
In fact, Bush tops the category of "the more I hear, the less I like," with 58 percent, followed by Trump at 49 percent, which drove their overall favorability ratings down.
Cruz is a favorite among very conservative voters, the poll shows, gaining a 64-22 percent rating from conservatives and 66-20 percent from tea party movement voters after they'd heard more about him.
Those constituents also like Carson, even though he is doing well among all Republicans as well.
Meanwhile, Republicans said Trump has the best chance of beating a Democrat next year, but more than a third said they do not want him to get the nomination, topping the list of candidates voters definitely do not want to see on the general election ballot:
- Trump, 37 percent;
- Bush, 32 percent;
- Fiorina, 13 percent;
- Rubio and Cruz, 6 percent;
- Carson, 3 percent.
However, the report said that Trump's numbers in that category may have been increased by several groups that may turn out to vote in GOP primaries when they are held, including "soft" Republicans, moderates, and non-tea party supporters.
Bush's problems started during his debate showings, according to Miringoff, when "he came with the expectation he was the smart Bush [but] that’s not what he’s showing.”
Meanwhile, the poll found Carson to be the strongest general election candidate to defeat presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, but still two percent more believed she'd win:
- Clinton over Carson, 2 points;
- Over Rubio by 5;
- Over Bush by 8;
- Over Cruz or Fiorina by 10;
- Over Trump by 15.
The poll though, found voters think that Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders could lose to Carson by two percentage point but Sanders would defeat the others:
- Rubio by 3;
- Bush by 10;
- Cruz or Trump by 12;
- and Fiorina by 14.
Fiorina also fared poorly among female voters in a matchup to Clinton, the poll showed, losing women voters to her by 20 percentage points.
She'd also lose women to Rubio or Carson, by 12 points and Bush or Cruz, down by 15 points. Only Trump would lose to more women voters, at 26 percent, the poll shows.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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