Wednesday, January 6, 2016

First Read: The GOP Establishment Lane is Crowded -- and Flawed

 
First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.
 
GOP's establishment lane is crowded -- and flawed

Not only is there a pile up in the establishment lane of the Republican presidential contest in New Hampshire; it's also worth pointing out how flawed the candidates in this lane are. While there's newfound buzz around Chris Christie, he has very little money (just $1.4 million in the bank as of Sept. 30), and he expanded Medicaid and hugged Barack Obama in 2012. John Kasich also has little cash on hand ($2.7 million) and he, too, expanded Medicaid. While Marco Rubio still has a good shot at winning the GOP nomination, he hasn't focused as aggressively on New Hampshire (or Iowa) until recently. And as for Jeb Bush -- he and his allies have already spent nearly $50 million in TV ads, including $23 million in New Hampshire, and his poll position remains in the single digits. How flawed are these establishment candidates? With the BIG exception of Rubio, a majority of GOP primary voters say they can't see themselves supporting these establishment candidates, according to our Dec. 2015 NBC/WSJ poll:
 
Rubio: 64% said they could see themselves supporting him, 29% couldn't (+35) 
Christie: 43% said they could see themselves supporting him, 50% couldn't (-7) 
Bush: 45% said they could see themselves supporting him, 53% couldn't (-8) 
Kasich: 22% said they could see themselves supporting him, 53% couldn't (-31)
 
Click here for the full article.
 
Source: NBC News

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