In case you had any doubts about where the GOP base is at…
by David Atkins
Polling this early in a presidential race is functionally useless in determining an eventual victor, but a current snapshot can tell you a lot about how the electorate feels. In this case, it’s pretty interesting that the current GOP leaders in Iowa are none other than Mike Huckaby and Ted Cruz:
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) continues to lead early polling in Iowa for the GOP presidential race in 2016.
Huckabee, who won the first-in-the-nation GOP caucus in 2008, topped a list of potential 2016 GOP candidates, with 20 percent saying they would most likely vote for him if he decides to run, according to a survey by the Democratically affiliated Public Policy Polling released Thursday.
A February survey from PPP had Huckabee polling at 17 percent, inside the 5.6 percent margin of error.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) trailed closest behind, with 15 percent. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush scored 12 percent and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took in 10 percent.All other candidates scored in single digits: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (9 percent), Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (8 percent), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (6 percent), Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (4 percent) and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (3 percent).
There’s no question that the Republican base is regressing toward an ever more odious brand of conservatism. As the country inevitably moves away from their vision, they’re lurching squarely the other way. That won’t hurt them immediately in 2014, or even perhaps in 2018. But the day of reckoning is coming, and it’s coming hard.
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