Trump leads among Iowa independent voters
Manchester, NH based American Research Group (ARG) polled 600 Iowans (487 Republicans and 113 “no party” voters). Overall:
Bachmann 9%
Daniels 4%
Gingrich 12%
Giuliani 8%
Huckabee 18%
Palin 4%
Rand Paul 4%
Ron Paul 3%
Pawlenty 1%
Romney 17%
Santorum 2%
Trump 10%
Undecided 8%
Barbour, Cain, Huntsman, Johnson, Karger, Pataki, and Roemer received 1%
But what really struck me were two things.
First, of the 600 GOPers/Independents, 51% percent consider themselves a Tea Party Supporter of which Huckabee has 23% of the vote, Bachmanm 18%; those who do not consider themselves Teabaggers, Romney leads with 19%, followed by Giuliani with 16%, and Trump/Huckabee/Gingrich with 12%.
Second, among Independents, Trump leads the pack with 31% of the vote and with a 10-point lead above the #2, Romney. Among GOPers, Trump just pulls in 8%.
This tells me that the “Independents” in this survey were either ALL Tea Party folk (whose votes when combined with GOP-Tea voters were diluted amongst the rest) OR Independent voters really like what Trump is doing. I hope it’s not the latter and Trump is the new Tea Party Darling.