Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's campaign strategy, described by one insider to Daily Mail Online as becoming 'everyone's second choice,' is paying dividends early with poll numbers that put him out front nationally among Republicans. A Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday found Walker is the clear favorite of one in four GOP voters, with both moderates and the tea-party right wing giving him high marks. That 25 per cent showing is well ahead of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose 17 per cent showing is a poor indicator of any public-opinion muscle his gargantuan fundraising advantage might earn him. Even Dr. Ben Carson, an outsider who only brought on a campaign finance chairwoman this week – former Newt Gingrich fundraising coordinator Amy Pass – placed one point ahead of Bush, with 18 per cent support. WHO, ME? WIsconsin Gov. Scott Walker has emerged as an early Republican favorite in the first lap of a very long 2016 race . MONEY CAN'T BUY ME LOVE: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is lagging behind the leader despite a presumed massive fundraising advantage . The numbers tell an early story, with the Republicans' nominating convention still 17 months away in Ohio, but will do wonders for Walker's ability to attract high-dollar donors and earn critical media exposure among a crowded field as the race begins to take shape. In a separate poll published Tuesday, Walker drew into a statistical dead heat for the lead in Texas, where his 19 per cent showing was just one point lower than that of home-state favorite Sen. Ted Cruz. That University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll showed Cruz with a commanding 25 percentage point lead over all other potential 2016 presidential nominees just four months ago. In Tuesday's numbers, Walker atracted support from twice as many Texans as the state's outgoing governor Rick Perry. Cruz was near the bottom of the pile in PPP's national sample, with just 5 per cent support. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ended his Fox News Channel weekend talk show last month to explore his options, placed behind Walker, Carson and Bush at 10 per cent. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tied with Cruz at 5 per cent. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul registered 4 per cent support in the PPP poll; Perry and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came last, tied at 3 per cent. 'Walker is climbing fast in the polling because of his appeal to the most conservative elements of the Republican electorate,' PPP noted. He crushes the field among Republican voters who identify themselves as 'very conservative,' winning support from 37 per cent of them. Next-best among 'very conservative' GOPers is Carson with 19 per cent for Carson, then Bush with 12 per cent and Huckabee with 11. 'There are two times more GOP primary voters who identify as "very conservative" than there are ones who identify as moderates,' reports PPP. Some Bush insiders say the former governor aims to raise as much as $100 million by the end of March in a 'shock and awe' financial blitz designed to intimidate his potential opponents. But the poll numbers show he has yet to make serious inroads with the tea party crowd. Just 37 per cent of 'very conservative' Republicans say they have a favorable impression of him, compared with 43 per cent who say they have an 'unfavorable' opinion. Those 'under water' numbers could spell trouble for Bush on the eve of the Conservative Political Action Conference, a three-day event where he has opted for a more laid-back Q&A with Fox News moderator Sean Hannity instead of a more traditional speech. While Bush is seen as an establishment fundraising behemoth, his 37–43 showing indicates a distrust he's earned from right-wing partisans who fear the prospect of pitting a political moderate against HIllary Clinton, the Democrats' all-but-inevitable nominee. By comparison Carson's approve/disapprove numbers among the most conservative GOP voters are 73-2, Walker's are 68-3 and Cruz's are 68-8. 'The party is either going to win with a conservative next year or lose with Mitt Romney 2.0,' one Iowa political consultant told Daily Mail Online. 'The base senses that, and the story of 2016 will be whether all of Jeb's money is enough to buy his way in to the winner's circle.' But a Republican National Committeeman countered that 'Gov. Bush is one of the party's most reliable conservative voices, and ultimately the far-right snake-oil-sellers will shoot themselves in the foot. It's a long campaign, and we need someone steady at the helm.' Neither man agreed to be identified. SURPRISE SHOWING: Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson placed one point ahead of Jeb Bush in the latest national poll of Republican primary voters . IN THE HUNT: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had a 10 per cent showing in the Public Policy Polling survey . A Walker insider outlined one of his campaign's strategies a week ago in a conversation with Daily Mail online, predicting that the party would fracture by the end of 2015 ith Bush on one side and tea party stalwarts like Cruz, Perry and Carson on the other. Becoming 'everyone's second choice,' the adviser said, is Walker's most likely path to victory – especially in a contest with more than a dozen credible contenders. 'The tea partiers are goign to love Cruz, and they'll all wish they could elect Carson,' the aide explained. 'The rest of the voters will feel safe with Jeb.' But neither camp is thought to have the ability to overwhelm the field, potentially setting up Walker as a consensus choice next year. The governor is treading carefully in the early going, telling reporters three days ago in Washington that if he forally runs for president, 'I’m not going to go out and attack my opponents.' But Monday night at a convention of Christian broadcasters, he carved out some distance between himself and Bush with a story about his hardscrabble family history. 'I realize that unlike some out there, I didn't inherit fame or fortune from my family,' Walker said. 'I got a bunch of things that were a whole lot better than that.'
Public Policy Polling found the WIsconsin governor is favored by 25 per cent of Republican voters .
Outsider Ben Carson is second with 18 per cent, one point ahead of fundraising leader Jeb Bush's 17 .
Mike Huckabee at 10 per cent, Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Ted Cruz at 5, Sen. Rand Paul at 4, and Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Marco Rubio at 3 .
A separate poll in Texas shows Walker in a statistical dead heat with in-state favorite Cruz, closing a 25-point gap since October .
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's campaign strategy, described by one insider to Daily Mail Online as becoming 'everyone's second choice,' is paying dividends early with poll numbers that put him out front nationally among Republicans. A Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday found Walker is the clear favorite of one in four GOP voters, with both moderates and the tea-party right wing giving him high marks. That 25 per cent showing is well ahead of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose 17 per cent showing is a poor indicator of any public-opinion muscle his gargantuan fundraising advantage might earn him. Even Dr. Ben Carson, an outsider who only brought on a campaign finance chairwoman this week – former Newt Gingrich fundraising coordinator Amy Pass – placed one point ahead of Bush, with 18 per cent support. WHO, ME? WIsconsin Gov. Scott Walker has emerged as an early Republican favorite in the first lap of a very long 2016 race . MONEY CAN'T BUY ME LOVE: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is lagging behind the leader despite a presumed massive fundraising advantage . The numbers tell an early story, with the Republicans' nominating convention still 17 months away in Ohio, but will do wonders for Walker's ability to attract high-dollar donors and earn critical media exposure among a crowded field as the race begins to take shape. In a separate poll published Tuesday, Walker drew into a statistical dead heat for the lead in Texas, where his 19 per cent showing was just one point lower than that of home-state favorite Sen. Ted Cruz. That University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll showed Cruz with a commanding 25 percentage point lead over all other potential 2016 presidential nominees just four months ago. In Tuesday's numbers, Walker atracted support from twice as many Texans as the state's outgoing governor Rick Perry. Cruz was near the bottom of the pile in PPP's national sample, with just 5 per cent support. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ended his Fox News Channel weekend talk show last month to explore his options, placed behind Walker, Carson and Bush at 10 per cent. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tied with Cruz at 5 per cent. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul registered 4 per cent support in the PPP poll; Perry and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came last, tied at 3 per cent. 'Walker is climbing fast in the polling because of his appeal to the most conservative elements of the Republican electorate,' PPP noted. He crushes the field among Republican voters who identify themselves as 'very conservative,' winning support from 37 per cent of them. Next-best among 'very conservative' GOPers is Carson with 19 per cent for Carson, then Bush with 12 per cent and Huckabee with 11. 'There are two times more GOP primary voters who identify as "very conservative" than there are ones who identify as moderates,' reports PPP. Some Bush insiders say the former governor aims to raise as much as $100 million by the end of March in a 'shock and awe' financial blitz designed to intimidate his potential opponents. But the poll numbers show he has yet to make serious inroads with the tea party crowd. Just 37 per cent of 'very conservative' Republicans say they have a favorable impression of him, compared with 43 per cent who say they have an 'unfavorable' opinion. Those 'under water' numbers could spell trouble for Bush on the eve of the Conservative Political Action Conference, a three-day event where he has opted for a more laid-back Q&A with Fox News moderator Sean Hannity instead of a more traditional speech. While Bush is seen as an establishment fundraising behemoth, his 37–43 showing indicates a distrust he's earned from right-wing partisans who fear the prospect of pitting a political moderate against HIllary Clinton, the Democrats' all-but-inevitable nominee. By comparison Carson's approve/disapprove numbers among the most conservative GOP voters are 73-2, Walker's are 68-3 and Cruz's are 68-8. 'The party is either going to win with a conservative next year or lose with Mitt Romney 2.0,' one Iowa political consultant told Daily Mail Online. 'The base senses that, and the story of 2016 will be whether all of Jeb's money is enough to buy his way in to the winner's circle.' But a Republican National Committeeman countered that 'Gov. Bush is one of the party's most reliable conservative voices, and ultimately the far-right snake-oil-sellers will shoot themselves in the foot. It's a long campaign, and we need someone steady at the helm.' Neither man agreed to be identified. SURPRISE SHOWING: Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson placed one point ahead of Jeb Bush in the latest national poll of Republican primary voters . IN THE HUNT: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had a 10 per cent showing in the Public Policy Polling survey . A Walker insider outlined one of his campaign's strategies a week ago in a conversation with Daily Mail online, predicting that the party would fracture by the end of 2015 ith Bush on one side and tea party stalwarts like Cruz, Perry and Carson on the other. Becoming 'everyone's second choice,' the adviser said, is Walker's most likely path to victory – especially in a contest with more than a dozen credible contenders. 'The tea partiers are goign to love Cruz, and they'll all wish they could elect Carson,' the aide explained. 'The rest of the voters will feel safe with Jeb.' But neither camp is thought to have the ability to overwhelm the field, potentially setting up Walker as a consensus choice next year. The governor is treading carefully in the early going, telling reporters three days ago in Washington that if he forally runs for president, 'I’m not going to go out and attack my opponents.' But Monday night at a convention of Christian broadcasters, he carved out some distance between himself and Bush with a story about his hardscrabble family history. 'I realize that unlike some out there, I didn't inherit fame or fortune from my family,' Walker said. 'I got a bunch of things that were a whole lot better than that.'
found Walker is the clear favorite of one in four Pass – placed one point ahead of Bush, with 18 a statistical dead heat for the lead in Texas, Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tied with Cruz at 5 per cent. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul registered 4 per cent support in the PPP poll; Perry and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came last, tied at 3 per neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson placed one point Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had a 10 per cent showing in the Public Policy Polling survey . A