From the midweek Morning Jolt:
No, Really, Scott Walker is the Frontrunner.
Quinnipiac polls likely Iowa Republican Caucus participants and finds Wisconsin governor Scott Walker leads the pack with 25 percent; 13 percent for U.S. senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, 11 percent each for physician Ben Carson and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and 10 percent for former Florida governor Jeb Bush. No other candidate is above 5 percent, and 9 percent are undecided.
PPP shows Walker leading nationally at 25 percent; Ben Carson is at 18 percent.
The UT-Austin/Texas Tribune poll puts Ted Cruz at 20 percent; Walker is at 19 percent.
The Field poll puts Walker ahead in California at 18 percent; Jeb Bush is second with 16 percent.
PPP shows Walker second in South Carolina with 18 percent; Jeb Bush leads with 19 percent.
You know who’s getting awfully close to that “first tier” status in the early going? Ben Carson. He’s currently third in Iowa, second in PPP’s national poll, at 9 percent in Texas, which is good for fourth; 8 percent in California, which is good for fourth; and at 13 percent in South Carolina, which is tied for third.