Chad’s Morning Brief: Walker, Bush, and Rubio Lead the Republican Field, Donald Trump Announces He Is Also Running for President, and Other Top Stories

Your Morning Brief for June 17, 2015.

Walker, Bush, and Rubio

According to the latest Public Policy Polling data Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, and Marco Rubio sit atop the Republican field of candidates. The candidates with the best shot at beating Hillary Clinton right now? Marco Rubio and Ben Carson.

PPP's newest national Republican poll continues to find a bunched up race at the top. Scott Walker leads with 17% to 15% for Jeb Bush, 13% for Marco Rubio, 12% for Ben Carson, 11% for Mike Huckabee, 8% for Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, 5% for Carly Fiorina, and 4% for Chris Christie. Small though the lead may be, this is the fourth consecutive national survey we've done where we found Walker out in front.

Walker continues to lead thanks largely due to his strength with voters who identify themselves as 'very conservative.' Among them he gets 23% with Carson at 17%, Cruz at 13%, and Huckabee at 11% the other candidates who enter double digits.

The poll is mixed news for Bush. On one hand he's the only candidate who's really gained in support over the last month, going from 11% to 15%. Everyone else is within 1 or 2 points of where they were in the polls a month ago. On the other hand he actually starts out with a negative favorability rating among GOP primary voters- only 37% see him favorably to 40% with an unfavorable view. That's largely due to his struggles with conservatives- just 32% of 'very conservative' primary voters have a positive opinion of him while 51% see him negatively. Bush does lead the field with moderates at 19% to 17% for Rubio, 15% for Paul, and 10% for Huckabee.

Rubio has the best favorability rating of the GOP hopefuls- 59% of primary voters have a positive opinion of him to only 16% with a negative one. Rubio is also the most frequently named second choice of GOP voters. Only three hopefuls are either the first or second choice of more than 20% of voters- Walker at 28%, Bush at 26%, and Rubio at 25%.

The poll also has Rubio and Carson polling within 3 points of Hillary Clinton nationally. Knowing that Public Policy Polling is a liberal leaning group could mean that Rubio, Carson, and even Scott Walker and Jeb Bush are polling better than what PPP reports.

While it's still a long race, the poll does show that Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are slipping and Rick Perry has a lot of work to do if he wants to make it into the first debate.

Trump 2016

Donald Trump is actually running for President. At least that is what he said yesterday. As POLITICO reports, Trumps announcement was much different than the other candidates.

In a rambling hour-long stream-of-consciousness speech, The Donald vowed he would be “the greatest jobs President that God ever created.” He said he would “build a great wall on our southern border and have Mexico pay for that wall” and rebuild the country’s nuclear arsenal that “doesn’t work.”

He blasted the $5 billion price tag for Obamacare websites and said he could do better. “I hire people, they do a website, it costs $3,” he boasted.

And, of course, he reminded the crowd: “I’m really rich…that’s the kind of thinking you need for this country. It sounds crass, it’s not crass.”

A team of accountants, he said, has been toiling for months to calculate his total net worth of $8 billion, and assets of $9.24 billion.

“That’s the kind of thinking our country needs,” he said in apparent reference to his wealth. “We have the opposite thinking. We have losers. We have people that don’t have it. We have people that are morally corrupt.”

Can you imagine a primary debate with Donald Trump participating? It could happen and it will either be a train wreck or awesome.

Other Must Read Links:

Jeb Bush: America Deserves Better

Perry Ad Mocks Hillary

The Pope and Climate Change

Hillary Clinton Wants to Take From the Rich and Give to the Poor 

A Wake-Up Call For Democrats in San Antonio

GOP Leaderless

Rubio at the Top of the Republican Field 

Rich Californians Say Not Everyone is Equal 

Obama Wants to Diversify Wealthy Neighborhoods

These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard on our KFYO YouTube page after the show and online at kfyo.com.