A new poll of Republican voters says that the Party’s nominee does not need to reach the number of delegates laid out in the convention rules to win the nomination.
A new Bloomberg Politics poll found that 63 percent of Republicans polled say the candidate with the most delegates by the time of the convention should win the nomination. Only 33 percent said the delegates should pick the nominee regardless of the count at convention time.
The poll also asked which of the three remaining candidates they preferred. Trump topped the picks at 40 percent, with Cruz taking 31 percent and Kasich coming in at 25 percent.
Cruz is a closer second choice than Kasich, the poll says. When respondents were asked to choose between Trump and one of the other two, Trump led Cruz 48 to 44 percent while Trump beat Kasich 51 to 43 percent.
The feelings were decidedly mixed when it came to what sort of job voters thought Cruz and Trump would do.
Trump was smashed by Cruz on the question of who had the better temperament to be president. Fully 63 percent said Cruz had the better temperament to Trump’s dismal 27 percent.
In other questions, Trump did better than Cruz over which one would better handle Russia’s Vladimir Putin (55 percent for Trump, 35 percent for Cruz), who would work best with Congress (50 percent for Trump, 40 percent for Cruz), who knows how to get things done better (65/28), who could best manage the economy (65/28), and who could best beat Hillary (66/28).
But Cruz did better than Trump on several other questions. Cruz had the “more appropriate experience” to be president (47 percent for Cruz to 43 percent for Trump), is more honest and trustworthy (45/36), and best embodies moral values (64/20).
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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