Another national poll has been released on the GOP presidential nomination contest. It is the Monmouth University Poll -- done between July 9th and 12th of a random national sample of 336 registered Republicans, and has a margin of error of 5.4 points.
Only two candidates finished in double figures -- Jeb Bush (15%) and Donald Trump (13%), and since they are well within the margin of error to each other, they are in a statistical tie. No other candidate could reach double figures, and in fact, almost all of the others have actually lost support since this survey was done last April.
Even though Bush only got 15%, I think his supporters are probably happy with these results. In a two-way race between Bush and Trump, Bush would look like the moderate voice of reason (even though he supports the same failed economic and foreign policies of his brother).
Trump is still sounding off without bothering to put his brain in gear, and there's little doubt that he'll turn the first GOP debate into more of a comedy show than a political debate. That is bothering some GOP leaders right now -- but in the long-run, his candidacy may prove to be of benefit to the party. Trump is so off-the-wall crazy that he could well make whatever extremist candidate they wind up choosing look like a moderate (and give them a chance to appeal to Independents in the general election).
