At some point, the Republicans are going to have to let go of the fantasy that Trump is a flash in the pan and soon one of their establishment candidates will take the ball and run with it.
Perhaps that point came today, in a new CNN/ORC International Poll.
This one is a doozy, and the good stuff is found in the trends.
Bush
In July, Jeb Bush's Favorable/Unfavorable was 33%/43%. Not great, but probably fixable, with plenty of room in the 24% who had no opinion. Now, month later, just about every single Republican who recently formed an opinion about Bush formed a bad one. He gained a single "favorable" point and a whopping 13 "unfavorable" points. Now he's at 34%/56%, not just grossly under water, but also well above 50% in the negative, and trending even worse.
Walker
In July, he was 21%/23%. Now, he's 23%/31%. the change isn't as drastic as Jeb!, but again it shows that as more people get to know him, more people don't like him.
Fiorina
No trends here. This is the first time the poll included her. She's not well known, but those who know her seem to like her, with a ratio of 27%/19%.
Kasich
Kasich, too, is starting from scratch, and starting in positive numbers range, at 23%/22%.
Trump
Curiously, Trump saw hardly any changes at all, going from 33%/58% to 36%/59%.
The changes in favorability, the huge drop for non-Trump leading candidates, seem to be giving Trump some real momentum. When asked who people would vote for today, Trump made another big move. The first number is in August, the second July and the third June:
Trump 24% 18% 12%
Bush 13% 15% 17%
Carson 9% 4% 8%
Rubio 8% 6% 7%
Walker 8% 10% 6%
Paul 6% 6% 8%
Fiorina took a big jump, too, from invisible to relevant:
Fiorina 5% 1% 1%
Now here are some truly brutal and insane numbers. Who do Republicans think would do a better job on:
The Economy
Trump 45% 19%
Bush 8% 20%
Fiorina 6% 1%
"Illegal" Immigration
Trump 44% 13%
Bush 12% 21%
Rubio 7% 8%
Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when Trump was Bush's secret weapon.
Not so much any more. If you look, you'll see that most of Trump's increases came at Bush's expense.
I'm not so sure this guy is going away.
And I think that is FREAKIN'! HYSTERICAL!