1 of 1- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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- Registered: 1/29/2015
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Is It Starting?
Is gravity taking hold of the Trump spectacle?
And, what's the deal with Iowan Republicans? 
Ted Cruz Surges Past Donald Trump to Lead in Iowa Poll
DES MOINES — Senator Ted Cruz of Texas surged to a 10-point lead in a new poll released Saturday of likely Republican caucusgoers in Iowa, signaling that his campaign is gathering momentum and suggesting that a long nominating fight is ahead.
Donald J. Trump, who continues to lead most national polls, was second in the Iowa poll, with 21 percent naming him as their first choice, compared with Mr. Cruz’s 31 percent.
Ben Carson, after leading an October survey by the same pollster, commissioned by The Des Moines Register and Bloomberg Politics, tumbled to 13 percent, followed by Senator Marco Rubio of Florida at 10 percent.
The survey, by one of Iowa’s most respected pollsters, comes as Mr. Trump is increasingly hoping that a win in Iowa, whose caucuses are less than eight weeks away, will be a lightning strike on his way to the nomination.
“If we win Iowa, I think we run the table,” Mr. Trump said on Friday at a rally in Des Moines. He is far ahead in polls of the other early-voting states.
But Mr. Cruz’s sudden momentum in Iowa complicates Mr. Trump’s plan. It could set up a protracted primary between Mr. Cruz as the choice of far-right Republicans, Mr. Trump as an anti-establishment outsider and perhaps a third candidate representing the center-right of the party.
Mr. Cruz gained 21 percentage points in two months since the last Register poll. He has visited the state almost weekly, making the case that he is the answer to the right’s long search for a conservative with unwavering principles and deep resources. Mr. Cruz was the top choice in the poll of evangelical Christians (45 percent) and Tea Party conservatives (39 percent).
The poll provided a snapshot of how conservative Iowa’s likely Republican voters are. Nearly six in 10 say climate change is a hoax. More than half want mass deportations of illegal immigrants. Six in 10 would abolish the Internal Revenue Service.
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.