If the Iowa caucuses were held now, real estate investor and former reality TV personality Donald Trump would top the field of Republican presidential candidates with 16.6 percent of the votes, followed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker with 12 percent, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio with 9.6 percent.
In fourth, fifth, and sixth place – respectively -- would be surgeon Ben Carson, Texas senator Ted Cruz, and former executive Carly Fiorina.
Former Florida Governor and one-time GOP front-runner Jeb Bush clocked in at an aggressively unimpressive seventh place.
Those are the results of the latest Suffolk University poll released Tuesday at noon. Conducted by David Paleologos, director of the university’s political research center, the Suffolk poll is emerging as one of the nation’s more watched political bellwethers.
Perhaps the most provocative result was the answer to this question: “After watching Donald Trump, do you feel more comfortable with him as a candidate for president, or less comfortable?”
Less comfortable was the response of 55.45 percent; more comfortable 23.08 percent; no difference 18.27 and undecided 3.21.
In retrospect, the candidate who most impressed the 500 likely Iowan Republican caucus voters was Rubio.
The Suffolk poll has a margin of era of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Meanwhile, FiveThirtyEight reports that the Bernie Sanders Surge is over:
Not long ago, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was surging. In just a few months, the Vermont senator halved Hillary Clinton’s lead in Iowa and moved to within shouting distance of her in New Hampshire. But it’s probably time to change the verb tense. No longer is Sanders surging. He has surged. From now on, picking up additional support will be more of a slog
