With Trump preparing to steamroll the competition in today's all important primaries, where a victory in Florida is now all but assured and only a Kasich challenge in Ohio can potentially spoil the day for the Donald - if Trump wins Florida and Ohio, it's over - earlier today he got some more good news to propell him even further.
First, it was The week’s Economist/YouGov Poll which found Trump remaining at the top of GOP voters’ preference with an ever wider lead, while Florida Senator Marco Rubio seems most damaged by the two weeks of attacks and counter-attacks. In fact, this is the first time Trump has garnered the support of a majority of Republican primary voters nationwide, scoring an all time high of 53% in support at the national level. YouGov's February 24-27 survey marked his previous high, at 44% support.
What is interesting is that contrary to mainstream media insinuations that Trump is the most polarizing candidate, YouGov finds that the most disliked remaining Republican candidate is actually Marco Rubio .
His favorable rating among Republican primary voters has dropped nine points from what it was two weeks ago; his unfavorable rating has jumped eleven points in the same period. Every other remaining contender, including Kasich, receives better ratings.
To be sure, Trump who is the clear GOP frontrunner (74% of Republican primary voters expect him to be the nominee), still has a way to go to win over the supporters of his GOP opponents. About four in ten Republican voters don’t think Trump cares about people like them, and believe he cares more about himself than the country. A third are dubious about his plans for the economy, think he is not honest and trustworthy, and say he isn’t ready to be Commander-in-Chief.
All of that will change, however, if and when Trump wins two two "winner takes all" states later today, and as of this moment there is just one person standing in his way: the state's suddenly resurgent governor.
As YouGov notes, Kasich’s ratings are particularly strong this week. He gained five points among Republican primary voters in favorability compared with the last Economist/YouGov Poll. Among the public overall, slightly more people like Kasich than dislike him. Those national ratings are better than those Americans give any of the other Republicans (for comparison, 61% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Trump). Kasich scores better with Democratic primary voters than any other GOP candidate (and if Democratic voters could choose the GOP nominee, Kasich would be the frontrunner).
What separates Trump voters from those supporting other candidates is the importance of the issue of immigration. While Republican voters generally think the economy is the country’s most important issue, no matter whether they are for or against Trump, Trump’s supporters are nearly five times as likely as supporters of other candidates to say immigration is the issue that matters most to them. But Trump’s brashness may be more important than his issue positions. The most important reason people support Trump, chosen by both Trump supporters and opponents in the party, is that he is not politically correct.
Most importantly, however, one in five Republican supporters and opponents think none of the options offered explains support for Trump. As for their personal support, shaking up politics is most important for Trump voters; policy proposals and honesty matter most to supporters of the other three.
So far Trump is certainly delivering on what his fans demand of him.