We're only three days away from the first GOP primary debate and Donald Trump is still the party frontrunner.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll published yesterday shows Trump in the lead with 19 percent.
The poll, the latest of several national surveys to register the Trump surge, found that 19% of Republican primary voters picked Mr. Trump as their first choice for president, followed by 15% for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and 14% for Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor who led the field in the last Journal/NBC survey, in June.
The latest Monmouth University poll, which was released this morning, also shows Trump at the head of the pack.
When Republicans and Republican-leaning voters are asked who they would support for the GOP nomination for president, Donald Trump leads the pack at 26%, with Jeb Bush (12%) and Scott Walker (11%) following behind. The remainder of the “top ten” includes Ted Cruz (6%), Mike Huckabee (6%), Ben Carson (5%), Chris Christie (4%), Rand Paul (4%), Marco Rubio (4%), and John Kasich (3%). Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry each earn 2% and Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, and Jim Gilmore each get 1% or less.
Bobby Jindal's 1 percent support seems a little high.
With the first primary debate taking place this week, I don't believe it's too early in the process to take these polls seriously. Virtually every poll shows Donald Trump in the lead but, perhaps more importantly, the polls also show who has more or less dropped off the map.
Marco Rubio's irrelevance may stand out more than any other because he chose to give up his Senate seat to run for president. He's also the only name on the list who has been touted as the party's savior; a man uniquely positioned to reach out and capture the Latino vote with a sterling record of voting against his own immigration reform bill.
Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, who will pose questions for the GOP candidates at the second primary debate hosted by CNN, once describe Rubio as "Hillary's worst nightmare." Rubio has also been described by various pundits as the "Dems' worst nightmare."
Before too long, Rubio won't even hold elected office.
If Chris Christie was unimpressed by Monmouth's poll of primary voters in New Hampshire, he must really love the university's national poll.