A new Monmouth poll puts Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at 30 percent nationally. Trump is up four points from early August. Jeb Bush who had been in second place with Trump, has dropped four points to 8 percent, giving up his position in second place to Ben Carson.
Trump has succeeded in attracting the most attention of any presidential candidate. According to Google Trends, the real estate tycoon is the most-searched candidate in every state except Vermont. The record-breaking ratings for the first GOP debate was largely attributed to The Donald.
The director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, Patrick Murray, said that attacks on Trump from his rivals only seem to help his campaign.
“None of the establishment candidates [are] having any success in getting an anti-Trump vote to coalesce around them. In fact, any attempt to take on Trump directly only seems to make him stronger.”
While Trump has enjoyed high polling numbers since he started his campaign, his favorability numbers have been pretty negative. Currently, 59 percent of registered voters view Donald Trump negatively. That number may not sound good, but it’s actually an improvement . He’s managed to make a four point improvement since mid-July.
Many see Trump’s success as a sign that Republican voters are tired of typical Washington politicians. Mr. Trump doesn’t talk or act like the usual presidential candidate, and that’s appealing to some. The same is true for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson who has seen a jump in poll numbers since the first GOP debate. Both Carson and Trump are seen by many as anti-establishment candidates.
There are some other candidates that are best described as anti-establishment who aren’t doing as well as Carson and Trump. Senator Rand Paul, the son of Ron Paul, is polling at around 2 percent despite his anti-establishment rhetoric. Senator Ted Cruz, another candidate against typical Washington politics, is now tied with Jeb Bush at 8 percent.
Patrick Murray asserted that Republican voters have become dissatisfied with the GOP establishment.
“The fact that the only one who can challenge Trump is the only other candidate who has never held or run for elected office speaks volumes to the low regard GOP voters have for the establishment,.
On the Democrat side, Bernie Sanders is somewhat of a parallel to Carson and Trump. Sanders is praised by anti-establishment liberals who want an entirely different kind of president. Mr. Sanders has been quickly gaining on Hillary Clinton. Clinton is at around 49.2 percent while Sanders is at 25 percent.
[Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images]
