Courtesy of the FT:
Donald Trump has opened a 49 per cent to 16 per cent lead over Marco Rubio in the latest presidential opinion poll, sparking panic among establishment Republicans over his likely coronation as the party’s nominee.
On the eve of Super Tuesday, when almost half of the 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination are awarded, the businessman has increased his lead over the Cuban-American senator whom the GOP elite sees as its best chance of defeating the brash billionaire who has upended the 2016 presidential race.
Mr Trump has big leads in most of the 11 states that hold GOP primaries on Tuesday, except for Texas where Ted Cruz is firmly ahead. A new CNN/ORC national poll found that he had boosted his lead over Mr Rubio and Mr Cruz, the Texas senator, who came third with 15 per cent. In the wake of his wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, the tycoon has risen in the polls, despite escalating attacks from his rivals and his reluctance to disavow the Ku Klux Klan.
Mainstream Republicans are worried that the party has left it too late to stop the Trump juggernaut. Brian Sasse, the Nebraska senator, on Tuesday became the first Republican member of Congress to say he would not vote for Mr Trump if the tycoon becomes the nominee. “Mr Trump’s relentless focus is on dividing Americans and on tearing down, rather than building back up, this glorious nation,” Mr Sasse said in a letter he posted to his constituents on Facebook.
Mr Trump has received the endorsements of only five Republican-elected politicians. Mr Rubio, in contrast, has the support of 63.
The more you get the less they’ll like you, matey. The pitchforks are out for the loon ponders, led by God only knows what.
