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Poll: Clinton Ties Carson in 2016 Matchup, but Tops Other GOP Candidates

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One year out before the 2016 general election, Hillary Clinton and Ben Carson are tied in a hypothetical matchup, but Clinton leads three other major Republican candidates, according to brand-new numbers from the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Clinton is ahead of Republican Donald Trump by eight points among registered voters, 50 percent to 42 percent.

She leads former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush by four points, 47 percent to 43 percent.

And Clinton holds a three-point advantage over Sen. Marco Rubio, 47 percent to 44 percent, though that’s well within the poll’s margin of error of plus-minus 3.4 percentage points.

But against Ben Carson, who is now leading the GOP horserace in the NBC/WSJ poll, Clinton finds herself in a tied contest, 47 percent to 47 percent. (Read more from “Poll: Clinton Ties Carson in 2016 Matchup, but Tops Other GOP Candidates” HERE)

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After GOP Debate Debacle, Candidates Are Clamoring for a Stunning Name as Moderator

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According to an official for a Republican presidential campaign, there will be a conference call on Friday night to discuss the Republican National Committee’s future role in the party’s presidential debates.

Other possible moderators for the upcoming debates will be discussed.

One name that is being floated at this point is prominent conservative Glenn Beck.

The official spoke to TheBlaze about Beck, saying: “Right now, I know that his name is being mentioned.”

He also said that officials from at least three campaigns–Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz, and Governor Jim Gilmore–would probably support Beck in becoming a debate moderator . . .

Earlier today, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Preibus sent NBC Chairman Andrew Lack an open letter in which he said that NBC would no longer be a moderator in future Republican presidential debates. (Read more from “After GOP Debate Debacle, Candidates Are Clamoring for a Stunning Name as Moderator” HERE)

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This GOP Candidate’s Chief Operating Officer Just Quit the Campaign

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Christine Ciccone, the chief operating officer for Jeb Bush’s campaign, is leaving the team as the former Florida governor dramatically cuts costs and asserts himself as the Republican establishment frontrunner.

Ciccone was being paid roughly $12,000 a month but is departing the campaign after the campaign notified employees that they were reducing their payroll by 40 percent, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal . . .

After leaving a government job, Ciccone became the Vice President of Government relations at the lobbying firm Honeywell before moving to a position as Senior Vice President of External Relations for the USEC. (Read more from “This GOP Candidate’s Chief Operating Officer Just Quit the Campaign” HERE)

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We Have Our Final Six GOP Candidates

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By Jonathan V. Last. Yesterday’s debate showed that the GOP field is smaller than it looks. Technically, there are still fourteen people running, but the winnowing is far along. We probably have a final six and possibly a final four . . .

Rubio ended Jeb Bush’s campaign with the kind of body shot that buckles your knees. That’s on Bush, who never should have come after Rubio in that spot for a host of strategic and tactical reasons. But what should scare Hillary Clinton is how effortless Rubio is even with throwaway lines, like “I’m against anything that’s bad for my mother.” Most people have no idea how fearsome raw political talent can be. Clinton does know because she’s seen it up close. She sleeps next to it for a contractually-obligated 18 nights per year.

Cruz was tough and canny—no surprise there. He went the full-Gingrich in his assault on CNBC’s ridiculous moderators. He did a better job explaining Social Security reform than Chris Christie, even (which is no mean feat). And managed to look downright personable compared with John Harwood, whose incompetence was matched only by his unpleasantness. If you’re a conservative voter looking for someone who is going to fight for your values, Cruz must have looked awfully attractive.

Then there was Trump. Over the last few weeks, Trump has gotten better on the stump. Well, don’t look now, but he’s getting better at debates, too. Trump was reasonably disciplined. He kept his agro to a medium-high level. And his situational awareness is getting keener, too. Note how he backed John Kasich into such a bad corner on Lehmann Brothers that he protested, “I was a banker, and I was proud of it!” When that’s your answer, you’ve lost the exchange. Even at a Republican debate . . .

So there’s your final six: Trump, Carson, Rubio, Cruz, and maybe—just maybe—Fiorina and Christie. (Read more from “We Have Our Final Six GOP Candidates” HERE)

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Republican Debate: Here’s Who Won…and Who Lost

By Jeff Cox. RUBIO: The senator from Florida faced some fundamental character questions, namely about the votes he’s missing while campaigning, and some personal finance missteps. Each time, Rubio deflected the challenges and focused on issues. “I’m not worried about my finances,” he said in one exchange. “This debate needs to be about the men and women across this country who are struggling on a daily basis to provide for their families a better future that we always said this country is about” . . .

Score Rubio a winner . . .

Score Carson a loser . . .

Score [Ted] Cruz a winner . . .

Score [Donald] Trump neutral. (Read more from “Republican Debate: Here’s Who Won…and Who Lost” HERE)

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Trump Boasts About Limiting the Debate

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By Nick Gass. Several campaigns had threatened to bail on the debate during negotiations unless CNBC limited the event to 2 hours including commercial breaks, a chief concern of Donald Trump and Ben Carson, who sent a joint letter to the network complaining about the format.

“I could stand up here all night. Nobody wants to watch three and a half or three hours. And I have to hand it to Ben,” Trump said during his closing statement, motioning to Carson.

“They lost a lot of money. Everybody said it couldn’t be done,” Trump continued. “And in about two minutes, I renegotiated it to two hours, so we can get the hell out of here,” he said, to cheers. (Read more from “Trump Boasts About Limiting the Debate” HERE)

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Bozell: CNBC Debate Was an ‘Encyclopedic Example of Liberal Media Bias’

By News Busters Staff. MRC president Brent Bozell issued a statement Wednesday night criticizing the overall tilt and tone of the CNBC Republican debate in Boulder:

“The CNBC moderators acted less like journalists and more like Clinton campaign operatives. What was supposed to be a serious debate about the many issues plaguing our economy was given up for one Democratic talking point after another served up by the so-call ‘moderators.’ They clearly war-gamed this thinking that a relentless series of personal attacks on the candidates would somehow drive their ratings and help Hillary Clinton.

(Read more from “Bozell: CNBC Debate Was an ‘Encyclopedic Example of Liberal Media Bias'” HERE)

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Major Shakeup at Very Top of GOP Field That’ll Send Shock Waves Through the Race

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By Randy DeSoto. For the first time in many months, the GOP has a new front-runner in the presidential primary race: Dr. Ben Carson.

The latest New York Times/CBS poll has Carson taking the lead from Donald Trump garnering 26 percent to 22 percent of registered Republican voters. The lead falls within the margin of error of 6 percent.

The results are a reversal from last month in the Times/CBS poll, which had Trump at 27 percent and Carson at 23.

No other candidate registers in double digits in the new poll. The next three after the two leaders are Sen. Marco Rubio at 8 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina each at 7 percent.

The poll also finds that a majority of Republican primary voters have not made up their minds regarding who they will support. Seven in 10 indicated it was too early to say for certain who they would vote for, with just 28 percent reporting their minds were made up.

“Carson has made gains across many key Republican groups. In a reversal from earlier this month, he is now ahead of Trump among women and is running neck and neck with him among men. Carson’s support among evangelicals has risen and he now leads Trump by more than 20 points with this group,” according to CBS News. (Read more from “Major Shakeup at Very Top of GOP Field That’ll Send Shock Waves Through the Race” HERE)

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Ben Carson Edges Trump in National GOP Race

By Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto, and Fred Backus. Ben Carson has surpassed Donald Trump and now narrowly leads the Republican field in the race for the nomination in the latest national CBS News/New York Times Poll.

Twenty-six percent of Republican primary voters back Carson, giving him a four-point edge over Trump (22 percent). Support for Carson has quadrupled since August.

The rest of the Republican presidential candidates lag far behind in single digits. Marco Rubio is now in third place (eight percent), followed by Jeb Bush (seven percent) and Carly Fiorina (seven percent). All other candidates are at four percent or lower.

Carson has made gains across many key Republican groups. In a reversal from earlier this month, he is now ahead of Trump among women and is running neck and neck with him among men. Carson’s support among evangelicals has risen and he now leads Trump by more than 20 points with this group.

Carson performs well among conservative Republicans and those who identify as Tea partiers. Trump does well with moderates and leads Carson among those without a college degree – although Trump had a larger advantage with non-college graduates earlier this month. (Read more from “Ben Carson Edges Trump in National GOP Race” HERE)

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This GOP Candidate Holds Double-Digit Lead on Clinton in New Poll

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Four Republican presidential candidates lead Hillary Clinton nationally in head-to-head match-ups, according to a new poll.

The Fox News survey released on Tuesday shows Ben Carson running the strongest against Clinton, with the retired neurosurgeon taking 50 percent, compared to only 39 percent for the former secretary of State.

Donald Trump leads Clinton by 45 percent to 40, Jeb Bush leads Clinton 44 to 40 and Carly Fiorina leads Clinton 42 to 39, the poll found.

While it can be dangerous to read too much into any poll this early in the presidential contest, the Fox News survey will give ammunition to those arguing that Vice President Biden would be a stronger Democratic candidate than Clinton.

Biden leads all of those same Republican contenders in head-to-head match-ups. He’s up on Trump by 50 percent to 37, Bush by 46 to 41 percent and enjoys leads of 46 to 42 percent over both Carson and Fiorina. (Read more from “This GOP Candidate Holds Double-Digit Lead on Clinton in New Poll” HERE)

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Republicans Are Furious With CNBC Over What They’re Doing to the Next GOP Debate

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A nearly 90-minute conference call between CNBC and representatives of Republican presidential candidates on Wednesday turned heated over a CNBC decision regarding the next GOP primary debate.

Many of the Republicans complained about a CNBC plan to drop opening and closing statements to allow more time for questions from moderators at the event, scheduled for Oct. 28 at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The plan was included in a memo the network distributed prior to a conference call that claimed the campaigns had already agreed to the format change, Politico reported.

Eliminating opening and closing statements would allow a more “free flowing discussion, lively candidate interaction, fair treatment of all candidates,” the memo stated, according to Politico.

But during the call, it was clear the campaigns weren’t going along.

The first to object was Ed Brookover, a campaign strategist on the Ben Carson campaign. Two sources on the call told Politico that Brookover threatened to take his concerns public. (Read more from “Republicans Are Furious With CNBC Over What They’re Doing to the Next GOP Debate” HERE)

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Here’s What Donald Trump Says Bernie Sander’s Huge Mistake Was at Democratic Debate

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Bernie Sanders made a “big mistake” by giving Hillary Clinton cover not to discuss her emails, Donald Trump said the morning after the first Democratic presidential debate.

“You have an FBI investigation on the emails and he just let her off,” the billionaire businessman and Republican presidential front-runner said Wednesday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “When you’re losing that badly you have to go a lot stronger” . . .

“I thought the others were not strong. They were not going after her. They were kind to her. Very gentle,” he told GMA. “They had to hit her hard. They decided not to do that.”

Despite some strong sound bites, Trump said Sanders will not overtake Clinton as the front-runner.

“I don’t think he’s going to get her. I think his performance was OK,” he said. “He had to be much better than okay. He had to come out the clear winner. And he didn’t.” (Read more from “Here’s What Donald Trump Says Bernie Sander’s Huge Mistake Was at Democratic Debate” HERE)

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Anti-Establishment Mood Doesn’t Stop ‘Invisible Primary’

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With 83 percent of Americans saying they disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job, one might expect presidential candidates and their savvy political teams to keep themselves at a distance.

But even in this year of the outsider — where, from the revolt in the House to the polls in the presidential race, it might appear the strength of the establishment is on the downturn — candidates seeking the highest office in the land are competing for their endorsements in what has been described as the “Invisible Primary.”

On Friday, Sen. Bernard Sanders, the Vermont independent giving establishment favorite Hillary Clinton her biggest challenge for the Democratic nomination, is expected to receive an endorsement from Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) during a campaign rally in Tucson, Arizona.

Grijalva would be the only congressional lawmaker to endorse Sanders for president so far — a figure dwarfed by the more than 140 members of Congress who have said they are ready for Hillary . . .

Endorsements from members of Congress are an inherent reflection of establishment support, Lynn Vavreck, a professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote for The New York Times’ Upshot blog. But, she added, research suggests that support from political elites is also “the single best predictor” of a candidate’s success. (Read more from “Anti-Establishment Mood Doesn’t Stop ‘Invisible Primary'” HERE)

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