GOP NOMINATION CONSIDERATION IV
METHODOLOGY
§  829 autodial phone interviews
conducted nationwide among likely
Republican primary voters.
§  Conducted September 29-October 1,
2015.
§  Margin of error is +/- 3.6%.
§  Comparative data results are pulled
from our previous research conducted
in February, May, and August of 2015.
OF NOTE
§  This study has been conducted regularly since
February of 2015 to track likely Republican
voter attitudes throughout the GOP primary
process.
§  The Republican field and attitudes of primary
voters are dynamic and we fully expect the
underlying structure of the electorate to
continue evolving in the coming months.
§  Successful vote coalitions among the early
primary and caucuses may only require
20-40% support.
§  This survey was not conducted on behalf of
any candidate or associated organization.
CANDIDATE AWARENESS AND
CONSIDERATION
95
94
93
93
92
92
91
90
90
85
82
80
80
74
67
5
6
7
7
8
8
9
10
10
15
18
20
20
26
33
JEB BUSH
DONALD TRUMP
MIKE HUCKABEE
BEN CARSON
MARCO RUBIO
CHRIS CHRISTIE
CARLY FIORINA
RAND PAUL
TED CRUZ
RICK SANTORUM
LINDSEY GRAHAM
JOHN KASICH
BOBBY JINDAL
GEORGE PATAKI
JIM GILMORE
1-7 Aware 9 Not Aware
Please rate each candidate on a 7-point scale. Press 1 if you would almost certainly vote for that candidate. Press 2 if you would
strongly consider supporting that candidate. Press 7 if you would almost certainly never vote for that candidate. Press 6 if it is
unlikely you would ever support that candidate. Press 4 if you are completely neutral. However, you can use any number from
1-7 to rate these candidates. If you don’t know the candidate well enough to rate them, Press 9. Those who selected 1-7 for a
candidate were considered ‘Aware,’ while those who selected 9 were considered ‘Not Aware.’
CURRENT CANDIDATE AWARENESS
Change In
Awareness
0
-1
0
+6
+3
+2
+8
+2
0
+3
+3
+5
+4
+2
+4
CURRENT CANDIDATE CONSIDERATION
Please rate each candidate on a 7-point scale. Press 1 if you would almost certainly vote for that candidate. Press 2 if you
would strongly consider supporting that candidate. Press 7 if you would almost certainly never vote for that candidate.
Press 6 if it is unlikely you would ever support that candidate. Press 4 if you are completely neutral. However, you can use
any number from 1-7 to rate these candidates. If you don’t know the candidate well enough to rate them, Press 9.
30
21
20
28
18
12
12
8
9
7
7
7
4
4
3
40
41
42
28
31
33
31
32
21
23
22
21
14
9
7
16
20
20
13
23
19
25
25
35
23
35
30
30
38
44
7
11
9
10
15
17
14
17
16
19
15
19
19
16
13
6
8
10
21
14
20
18
19
19
28
22
24
33
34
33
BEN CARSON
MARCO RUBIO
CARLY FIORINA
DONALD TRUMP
TED CRUZ
JEB BUSH
MIKE HUCKABEE
CHRIS CHRISTIE
JOHN KASICH
RAND PAUL
BOBBY JINDAL
RICK SANTORUM
LINDSEY GRAHAM
GEORGE PATAKI
JIM GILMORE
2-3 Consider 7 Certainly Not Consider5-6 Not Consider4+9 Neutral1 Certainly Consider
Mean
Scores
2.68
3.06
3.12
3.48
3.61
3.97
3.89
4.12
4.56
4.33
4.45
4.95
4.99
4.23
5.01
*Chart order is by total 1-3 consideration.
The primary electorate remains extremely fluid as we enter the
4th quarter of 2015.
No candidate is attracting anywhere near a majority of the vote
and the average voter is still considering 6 different candidates
while most have two favorites that they are deciding between.
AVERAGE NUMBER OF CANDIDATES BEING CONSIDERED
5
6 6 6
2 2 2 2
February May August October
Total
1-3
Consider
High
1
Consider
47
47
63
70
61
56
62
20
56
13
25
62
43
43
49
54 51
50
45
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
February May August October
*Trump was not included in our February polling.
Our current top 6 considered candidates are Bush, Carson, Cruz, Fiorina, Rubio and Trump.
Below is the total consideration (1-3) trended from February through our October polling.
OCTOBER TOP 6 CANDIDATE TRENDS
Rubio!
Cruz!
Carson!
Fiorina!
Bush!
CHANGE IN NET CONSIDERATION
The candidates who saw the greatest movement in
their net consideration are Christie who improved 16
points, Carson and Fiorina who improved 10 points
each, and Rubio who improved 8.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Total Consideration % 1-3
TotalAwareness%
CONSIDERATION
CONVERSION RATE
Ben Carson 75%
Carly Fiorina 68%
Marco Rubio 67%
Donald Trump 60%
Ted Cruz 54%
Jeb Bush 47%
Mike Huckabee 46%
Chris Christie 43%
John Kasich 38%
Bobby Jindal 36%
Rand Paul 33%
Rick Santorum 33%
Lindsey Graham 22%
George Pataki 18%
Jim Gilmore 15%
*Conversion rate was calculated by
dividing the total consideration (1-3)
score by total awareness (1-7).
WELL-KNOWN TOP
CHOICES
WELL-KNOWN LESS POPULAR
CANDIDATES
LESS KNOWN/UNDER-PERFORMING
HIGHEST CONSIDERATION V. AWARENESS
Comparing the total awareness of each candidate to their 1-3 consideration score we see
candidates who have higher awareness and popularity overall (Carson, Rubio, Fiorina, Trump)
and we see that a group clustered toward the bottom left quadrant that are less known.
POPULAR LOWER-RECOGNITION
Bush!
Carson!
Fiorina!
Rubio!
Cruz!
Trump!
Gilmore!
Pataki!
Graham! Kasich!
Jindal!
Paul!
Huckabee!
Christie!Santorum!
17
14
9
7
6
6
3
3
2
2
1
1
29
DONALD TRUMP
BEN CARSON
CARLY FIORINA
MARCO RUBIO
JEB BUSH
TED CRUZ
JOHN KASICH
MIKE HUCKABEE
CHRIS CHRISTIE
RAND PAUL
RICK SANTORUM
BOBBY JINDAL
UNDECIDED
Derived ballot is based
on candidate rank
order among the
individual respondent
candidate ratings.  If a
respondent had a clear
candidate preference
(they ranked that
candidate more
positively than all
others) that candidate
received one vote. 
Respondents’
preferences were split
proportionally if they
rated 2 or 3 candidates
most highly. If a voter
was split among more
than 3 candidates or
they did not rank any
candidates positively,
they were labeled
undecided.
DERIVED BALLOT
*Pataki, Graham, and Gilmore are not listed because they received less than .5 of the derived ballot vote.
2
0
8
11
5
9
2
9
3
6
18
5
12
8
6
4
4
3
2
2
17
9
14
6
6
7
3
3
2
2
DONALD TRUMP
CARLY FIORINA
BEN CARSON
JEB BUSH
TED CRUZ
MARCO RUBIO
JOHN KASICH
MIKE HUCKABEE
CHRIS CHRISTIE
RAND PAUL
MAY
AUGUST
COMPARED DERIVED BALLOT
*Santorum, Jindal, Pataki, Graham, and Gilmore are not listed because they received 1% or less of the derived ballot vote.
**Candidates are rank ordered by their October derived ballot score.
OCTOBER
MAY
AUGUST
OCTOBER
CHANGES IN DERIVED BALLOT
+9
+3
+2
0
0
0
0
0
0
-1
-1
-2
CHRISTIE
FIORINA
RUBIO
CARSON
CRUZ
HUCKABEE
PAUL
SANTORUM
Below is the change in the derived ballot for each candidate from our August Poll to our October Poll.
JINDAL
TRUMP
KASICH
BUSH
18
8
7
6
4
3
2
2
2
1
45
CARSON
FIORINA
CRUZ
RUBIO
HUCKABEE
BUSH
PAUL
CHRISTIE
SANTORUM
KASICH
UNDECIDED
Derived ballot is based on candidate rank order among the individual respondent candidate ratings.  If a respondent had a
clear candidate preference (they ranked that candidate more positively than all others) that candidate received one
vote. Respondents’ preferences were split proportionally if they rated 2 or 3 candidates most highly. If a voter was split
among more than 3 candidates or they did not rank any candidates positively, they were labeled undecided.
Here we took a look at two scenarios: How those who support Trump preferred candidates if we removed Trump, and then
how the candidate preferences changed among all our voters if we removed Trump.
DERIVED BALLOT & TRUMP
WHO DO TRUMP
SUPPORTERS FAVOR?
20
11
9
8
7
4
3
3
3
1
1
28
CARSON
FIORINA
RUBIO
CRUZ
BUSH
HUCKABEE
PAUL
KASICH
CHRISTIE
SANTORUM
JINDAL
UNDECIDED
WHAT DOES OUR BALLOT LOOK LIKE
AMONG ALL VOTERS WITHOUT TRUMP?
14
7
9
6
3
17
6
2
1
2
3
1
56
55
53
43
40
39
39
38
28
28
27
27
BEN CARSON
MARCO RUBIO
CARLY FIORINA
TED CRUZ
MIKE HUCKABEE
DONALD TRUMP
JEB BUSH
CHRIS CHRISTIE
BOBBY JINDAL
RAND PAUL
JOHN KASICH
RICK SANTORUM
Current Derived Ballot Potential Growth
POTENTIAL GROWTH
*Candidates are rank ordered by potential growth.
Looking at total
consideration for
each candidate
and adjusting for
their derived
ballot, we can see
which candidates
have the most and
least potential to
expand their vote
share.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Total Consideration % 1-3
TotalDerivedBallot%
BALLOT CONVERSION
*Ballot conversion was calculated by
dividing the total derived ballot by the
total consideration (1-3) score.
TOP CANDIDATES
POTENTIAL CONTENDERS
POTENTIAL CONTENDERS
LESS VIABLE
HIGHEST CONSIDERATION V. BALLOT
Comparing the stated total consideration of each candidate to our derived ballot we see
candidates who have higher stated and derived consideration overall (Trump, Carson,
Fiorina, Rubio, Cruz, Bush) and we see that a group of candidates clustered toward the
bottom left quadrant that don’t have the impact the other candidates do at this time.
Donald Trump 30%
Ben Carson 20%
Carly Fiorina 15%
Jeb Bush 13%
Ted Cruz 12%
Marco Rubio 11%
John Kasich 10%
Mike Huckabee 7%
Rand Paul 7%
Chris Christie 5%
Rick Santorum 4%
Bobby Jindal 3%
*Pataki, Graham, and Gilmore are not listed because they received less than .5 of the derived ballot vote.
Trump!
Carson!
Fiorina!
Rubio!
Cruz!
Bush!
Huckabee!
Christie!
Kasich!
Paul!
Jindal!
Santorum!
PARTY IDEOLOGY
Do you think that the Republican nominee, if elected president, should reach out to Democrats and
work to find reasonable compromises to get things done, or should they try to lead on strong
conservative principles and not compromise, even if things don’t get done in the short-run?
52%
48%
WHAT KIND OF
DO
VOTERS WANT?
Nominee
52% want a candidate who will
reach out to Democrats to
compromise and get things done.
48% want to elect a candidate who
will stand by strong conservative
principles even if things don’t get
done in the short run.
Generally speaking what type of candidate do you prefer nominating?
38%
want to nominate a
social conservative
candidate
14%
want to
nominate a
Tea Party
candidate
5%
want to nominate a
Libertarian candidate
27%
want to
nominate a
mainstream
candidate
12%
could
support any
type of
candidate
41
30
19
7
3
53
29
13
3 2
Very
Conservative
Somewhat
Conservative
Moderate Somewhat
Liberal
Very
Liberal
SOCIAL
FISCAL
How would you describe your views in the area of social/fiscal issues?
•  35% of Republican primary voters
are both very socially and very
fiscally conservative.
•  68% are both socially conservative
and fiscally conservative.
•  15% are socially moderate or liberal
and fiscally conservative.
ISSUE PREFERENCES
19
15
10
7
5
3
33
TRUMP
CARSON
CRUZ
FIORINA
RUBIO
HUCKABEE
UNDECIDED
Get Things Done Stand by Principles
We looked at the top six derived ballot scores based on voter preference
for a candidate who gets things done or instead stands by their principles.
BALLOT AND CANDIDATE PREFERENCE
14
14
11
9
8
5
28
TRUMP
CARSON
FIORINA
RUBIO
BUSH
KASICH
UNDECIDED
Social Conservatives Mainstream
We looked at the top derived ballot scores based on voter preference for a particular nominee:
social conservative, mainstream, Tea Party, any, or Libertarian candidate. Below are each of
their top 6 choices and the number of undecided voters based on these nominee types.
BALLOT AND NOMINEE TYPE
16
15
8
7
7
3
33
CARSON
TRUMP
RUBIO
CRUZ
FIORINA
HUCKABEE
UNDECIDED
Tea Party Libertarian
14
14
12
11
9
7
22
TRUMP
CARSON
BUSH
FIORINA
RUBIO
KASICH
UNDECIDED
24
17
16
6
4
3
25
TRUMP
CARSON
CRUZ
FIORINA
RUBIO
HUCKABEE
UNDECIDED
17
13
8
6
5
3
36
TRUMP
FIORINA
CARSON
BUSH
RUBIO
PAUL
UNDECIDED
20
16
13
7
6
5
20
CARSON
TRUMP
PAUL
FIORINA
CRUZ
BUSH
UNDECIDED
Could Support Any
PARTY COALITIONS AND CANDIDATE
CORRELATIONS
-­‐20.0%	
  
-­‐10.0%	
  
0.0%	
  
10.0%	
  
20.0%	
  
30.0%	
  
40.0%	
  
50.0%	
  
60.0%	
  
70.0%	
  
80.0%	
  
90.0%	
  
0%	
   10%	
   20%	
   30%	
   40%	
   50%	
   60%	
   70%	
   80%	
   90%	
   100%	
  
Percentageofclusterthatisboth
veryfiscallyandsociallyconservative
Percentage of cluster that wants a candidate who “gets things done”
Bubble sizes represent relative size of each cluster.
AUGUST & OCTOBER POLITICAL CLUSTERING
Below is the political clustering of the GOP electorate. The dotted circles represent the clusters from our
August polling and the light red circles represent where our clustering stands now in October.
Social
Conservatives
21%
Uncommitted
Conservatives
7%
Tea Party
7%
Motivated
Mainstream
17%
Undecideds
11%
Partisan
Conservatives
11%
Disengaged
17% Dissatisfied
10%
We see three typical groupings
within the GOP electorate that we
have defined as the Motivated
Mainstream, Social Conservatives,
and Tea Party voters. The remaining
55% of our electorate makeup
clusters of the fragmented nature of
our primary which indicates the
heavily undecided attitude of the
majority of our voters.
CLUSTER DEMOGRAPHICS
Social Conservatives (21% of Primary Voters): Split 51% female and 49% male, 82% identify as Republican, 87% are definitely voting, 95% are
socially conservative and 95% are fiscally conservative, 67% want a socially conservative candidate nominated, 69% want a candidate who will stand by
their principles if elected president.
Disengaged (17% of Primary Voters): 40% male and 60% female, 81% identify as Republican, 73% definitely voting with the highest group of self-
reported low turnout at 27%, 53% socially conservative and 48% moderate or liberal on social conservative issues, 64% fiscally conservative, 61% want a
candidate who will compromise to get things done and are split on the type of nominee they prefer.
Motivated Mainstream (17% of Primary Voters): 42% male and 58% female, 77% identify as Republican, 89% definitely voting, 50% socially
conservative and 39% moderately social conservatives, 80% are fiscally conservative, 91% want a candidate who will compromise and get things done, and
are looking for a more mainstream nominee.
Undecideds (11% of Primary Voters): 61% male and 39% female, 81% Republican, 85% are definitely voting, 74% are socially conservative and 79%
are fiscally conservative, are split on whether they would like a candidate to compromise in order to get things done or a candidate who will stand by their
values and principles, 38% are looking for a social conservative nominee while 20% are looking for a Tea Party candidate.
Partisan Conservatives (11% of Primary Voters): 64% male and 36% female, 85% Republican and are the highest self reported Republicans, 92%
definitely voting, 88% socially conservative, 95% fiscally conservative, half of them want a social conservative elected at the nominee and the other half are
split among all other types of candidates, and 66% want a candidate who will stand by their principles.
Dissatisfied (10% of Primary Voters): 46% male and 54% female, 66% identify as Republican and 33% identify as Independents or something else,
80% are definitely voting, 50% want to elect a mainstream nominee, 60% are socially moderate or liberal, 57% are fiscally conservative, and 78% want a
candidate who will compromise and get things done.
Uncommitted Conservatives (7% of Primary Voters): 48% male and 52% female, 77% identify as Republican and 23% identify as Independents or
something else, 88% reported to be definitely voting, 83% are socially conservative and 62% of them would like to see a socially conservative candidate
nominated, 93% are fiscally conservative, 70% want a candidate will stand by their principles.
Tea Party (7% of Primary Voters): 64% male and 36% female, 63% identify as Republican which is the lowest self reported Republican group while
37% identify as Independent or something else, 95% are definitely voting, 93% are socially conservative and 100% are fiscally conservative, two thirds
prefer either a Tea Party candidate or social conservative, and they are the most firm group that wants a candidate to stand by their principles at 88%.
TOP CONSIDERATIONS FOR EACH CLUSTER
58
30
25
24
23
18
Trump
Bush
Paul
Carson
Huckabee
Christie
Disengaged
17%
79
78
75
69
56
40
Fiorina
Rubio
Bush
Carson
Christie
Kasich
Motivated Mainstream
17%
97
97
97
97
94
94
Santorum
Rubio
Jindal
Kasich
Fiorina
Cruz
Undecideds
11%
87
71
68
62
62
52
Carson
Rubio
Cruz
Fiorina
Huckabee
Trump
Social Conservatives
21%
The candidates with the highest consideration scores (1-3) within each cluster.
Clusters are displayed in order by size of the vote each cluster represents.
59
45
45
34
28
26
Trump
Fiorina
Carson
Rubio
Bush
Kasich
Dissatisfied
10%
90
88
83
67
46
43
Rubio
Fiorina
Carson
Cruz
Jindal
Huckabee
Uncommitted Conservatives
7%
85
80
75
42
41
31
Carson
Trump
Cruz
Paul
Fiorina
Rubio
Tea Party
7%
97
93
89
84
79
60
Trump
Carson
Rubio
Fiorina
Cruz
Huckabee
Partisan Conservatives
11%
TOP CANDIDATES FOR EACH CLUSTER
29
9
6
6
5
31
Trump
Bush
Carson
Paul
Fiorina
Undecided
Disengaged
17%
16
14
14
13
8
20
Fiorina
Bush
Carson
Rubio
Kasich
Undecided
Motivated Mainstream
17%
9
8
7
4
2
63
Trump
Carson
Fiorina
Kasich
Rubio
Undecided
Undecideds
11%
23
12
8
7
6
27
Carson
Trump
Cruz
Rubio
Huckabee
Undecided
Social Conservatives
21%
The derived ballot among the voters in each cluster.
Clusters are displayed in order by size of the vote each cluster represents.
32
10
10
10
8
32
Trump
Carson
Fiorina
Bush
Rubio
Undecided
Dissatified
10%
19
16
13
10
2
30
Carson
Rubio
Fiorina
Cruz
Graham
Undecided
Uncommitted Conservatives
7%
38
20
19
6
3
11
Trump
Carson
Cruz
Paul
Fiorina
Undecided
Tea Party
7%
18
15
12
9
8
34
Trump
Carson
Cruz
Rubio
Fiorina
Undecided
Partisan Conservatives
11%
CANDIDATE CORRELATIONS
Candidate 3 Most Correlated 3 Least Correlated
Bush Christie, Graham, Kasich Trump, Cruz, Carson
Carson Cruz, Rubio, Fiorina Pataki, Graham, Paul
Christie Bush, Kasich, Rubio Trump, Paul, Carson
Cruz Jindal, Rubio, Huckabee Bush, Pataki, Kasich
Fiorina Rubio, Carson, Jindal Trump, Paul, Pataki
Gilmore Pataki, Graham, Santorum Carson, Trump, Fiorina
Graham Pataki, Gilmore, Santorum Carson, Trump, Fiorina
Huckabee Santorum, Cruz, Jindal Trump, Bush, Fiorina
Jindal Gilmore, Santorum, Cruz Trump, Bush, Carson
Kasich Graham, Gilmore, Pataki Trump, Cruz, Carson
Pataki Gilmore, Graham, Santorum Carson, Fiorina, Rubio
Paul Gilmore, Pataki, Graham Fiorina, Carson, Rubio
Rubio Fiorina, Cruz, Carson Trump, Paul, Pataki
Santorum Gilmore, Pataki, Graham Trump, Fiorina, Carson
Trump Cruz, Santorum, Huckabee Fiorina, Kasich, Bush
This table shows which candidates are currently sharing vote consideration and which are not sharing vote
consideration. Bush shares consideration with Christie, Graham and Kasich. With Carson gaining consideration in the
polls, Fiorina, Cruz, and Rubio will be competing most with voters likely to support Carson. Trump is least correlated
with almost every single candidate, making it difficult to know where his supporters would go if he were to drop out.
CORRELATION CHANGES AUGUST - OCTOBER
Below shows the top three candidates most correlated with each of our
presidential candidates from our August results and our October results.
AUGUST OCTOBER
*Bolded candidates are new correlations in the October poll. Walker and Perry are not included in the August
correlations because they were not tested in October due to suspending their bid for the nomination.
Candidate 3 Most Correlated
Bush Christie, Graham, Kasich
Carson Fiorina, Walker, Cruz
Christie Bush, Graham, Gilmore
Cruz Perry, Walker, Carson
Fiorina Carson, Rubio, Walker
Gilmore Pataki, Graham, Paul
Graham Pataki, Gilmore, Santorum
Huckabee Cruz, Carson, Santorum
Jindal Perry, Walker, Gilmore
Kasich Graham, Pataki, Rubio
Pataki Gilmore, Graham, Santorum
Paul Gilmore, Graham, Perry
Rubio Walker, Fiorina, Cruz
Santorum Perry, Graham, Jindal
Trump Cruz, Santorum, Carson
Candidate 3 Most Correlated
Bush Christie, Graham, Kasich
Carson Cruz, Rubio, Fiorina
Christie Bush, Kasich, Rubio
Cruz Jindal, Rubio, Huckabee
Fiorina Rubio, Carson, Jindal
Gilmore Pataki, Graham, Santorum
Graham Pataki, Gilmore, Santorum
Huckabee Santorum, Cruz, Jindal
Jindal Gilmore, Santorum, Cruz
Kasich Graham, Gilmore, Pataki
Pataki Gilmore, Graham, Santorum
Paul Gilmore, Pataki, Graham
Rubio Fiorina, Cruz, Carson
Santorum Gilmore, Pataki, Graham
Trump Cruz, Santorum, Huckabee
Cruz,
Huckabee
Jindal, Bush,
Carson
Rubio
Pataki
Fiorina Trump
Fiorina and Trump were the candidates with the highest negative correlation.
By subtracting each candidate’s Fiorina correlation from their Trump correlation, we can
visualize where each candidate falls on a spectrum from one candidate to the other.
FIORINA-TO-TRUMP SCALE
Kasich
Gilmore,
Santorum
Christie
Graham
Paul
Kasich
Carson
Jindal
Santorum
Cruz
Bush Trump
BUSH-TO-TRUMP SCALE
Huckabee
Paul
Rubio, Pataki,
Fiorina, Gilmore
Christie,
Graham
Bush and Trump were the candidates with the second highest negative correlation.
By subtracting each candidate’s Bush correlation from their Trump correlation, we can
visualize where each candidate falls on a spectrum from one candidate to the other.
Christie
Paul
Santorum
Trump
Bush Cruz
BUSH-TO-CRUZ SCALE
Gilmore
Kasich, Graham,
Pataki
Jindal,
Huckabee
By subtracting each candidate’s Bush correlation from their Cruz correlation, we can
visualize where each candidate falls on a spectrum from one candidate to the other.
Fiorina CarsonRubio
Kasich Paul
Santorum,
Pataki
Cruz
Rubio Trump
RUBIO-TO-TRUMP SCALE
Huckabee
Gilmore
Bush, Jindal,
Christie, Carson
Graham
By subtracting each candidate’s Rubio correlation from their Trump correlation, we can
visualize where each candidate falls on a spectrum from one candidate to the other.
Fiorina
Christie
Santorum
Kasich Jindal
Trump
Bush Rubio
BUSH-TO-RUBIO SCALE
Paul
Graham
Huckabee
By subtracting each candidate’s Bush correlation from their Rubio correlation, we can
visualize where each candidate falls on a spectrum from one candidate to the other.
Fiorina
Carson
Cruz
Pataki
Gilmore
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October_Presidential_Candidate_Considerations_Final_TPC

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    METHODOLOGY §  829 autodialphone interviews conducted nationwide among likely Republican primary voters. §  Conducted September 29-October 1, 2015. §  Margin of error is +/- 3.6%. §  Comparative data results are pulled from our previous research conducted in February, May, and August of 2015.
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    OF NOTE §  Thisstudy has been conducted regularly since February of 2015 to track likely Republican voter attitudes throughout the GOP primary process. §  The Republican field and attitudes of primary voters are dynamic and we fully expect the underlying structure of the electorate to continue evolving in the coming months. §  Successful vote coalitions among the early primary and caucuses may only require 20-40% support. §  This survey was not conducted on behalf of any candidate or associated organization.
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    95 94 93 93 92 92 91 90 90 85 82 80 80 74 67 5 6 7 7 8 8 9 10 10 15 18 20 20 26 33 JEB BUSH DONALD TRUMP MIKEHUCKABEE BEN CARSON MARCO RUBIO CHRIS CHRISTIE CARLY FIORINA RAND PAUL TED CRUZ RICK SANTORUM LINDSEY GRAHAM JOHN KASICH BOBBY JINDAL GEORGE PATAKI JIM GILMORE 1-7 Aware 9 Not Aware Please rate each candidate on a 7-point scale. Press 1 if you would almost certainly vote for that candidate. Press 2 if you would strongly consider supporting that candidate. Press 7 if you would almost certainly never vote for that candidate. Press 6 if it is unlikely you would ever support that candidate. Press 4 if you are completely neutral. However, you can use any number from 1-7 to rate these candidates. If you don’t know the candidate well enough to rate them, Press 9. Those who selected 1-7 for a candidate were considered ‘Aware,’ while those who selected 9 were considered ‘Not Aware.’ CURRENT CANDIDATE AWARENESS Change In Awareness 0 -1 0 +6 +3 +2 +8 +2 0 +3 +3 +5 +4 +2 +4
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    CURRENT CANDIDATE CONSIDERATION Pleaserate each candidate on a 7-point scale. Press 1 if you would almost certainly vote for that candidate. Press 2 if you would strongly consider supporting that candidate. Press 7 if you would almost certainly never vote for that candidate. Press 6 if it is unlikely you would ever support that candidate. Press 4 if you are completely neutral. However, you can use any number from 1-7 to rate these candidates. If you don’t know the candidate well enough to rate them, Press 9. 30 21 20 28 18 12 12 8 9 7 7 7 4 4 3 40 41 42 28 31 33 31 32 21 23 22 21 14 9 7 16 20 20 13 23 19 25 25 35 23 35 30 30 38 44 7 11 9 10 15 17 14 17 16 19 15 19 19 16 13 6 8 10 21 14 20 18 19 19 28 22 24 33 34 33 BEN CARSON MARCO RUBIO CARLY FIORINA DONALD TRUMP TED CRUZ JEB BUSH MIKE HUCKABEE CHRIS CHRISTIE JOHN KASICH RAND PAUL BOBBY JINDAL RICK SANTORUM LINDSEY GRAHAM GEORGE PATAKI JIM GILMORE 2-3 Consider 7 Certainly Not Consider5-6 Not Consider4+9 Neutral1 Certainly Consider Mean Scores 2.68 3.06 3.12 3.48 3.61 3.97 3.89 4.12 4.56 4.33 4.45 4.95 4.99 4.23 5.01 *Chart order is by total 1-3 consideration.
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    The primary electorateremains extremely fluid as we enter the 4th quarter of 2015. No candidate is attracting anywhere near a majority of the vote and the average voter is still considering 6 different candidates while most have two favorites that they are deciding between. AVERAGE NUMBER OF CANDIDATES BEING CONSIDERED 5 6 6 6 2 2 2 2 February May August October Total 1-3 Consider High 1 Consider
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    47 47 63 70 61 56 62 20 56 13 25 62 43 43 49 54 51 50 45 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 February MayAugust October *Trump was not included in our February polling. Our current top 6 considered candidates are Bush, Carson, Cruz, Fiorina, Rubio and Trump. Below is the total consideration (1-3) trended from February through our October polling. OCTOBER TOP 6 CANDIDATE TRENDS Rubio! Cruz! Carson! Fiorina! Bush!
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    CHANGE IN NETCONSIDERATION The candidates who saw the greatest movement in their net consideration are Christie who improved 16 points, Carson and Fiorina who improved 10 points each, and Rubio who improved 8.
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    0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 2030 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Total Consideration % 1-3 TotalAwareness% CONSIDERATION CONVERSION RATE Ben Carson 75% Carly Fiorina 68% Marco Rubio 67% Donald Trump 60% Ted Cruz 54% Jeb Bush 47% Mike Huckabee 46% Chris Christie 43% John Kasich 38% Bobby Jindal 36% Rand Paul 33% Rick Santorum 33% Lindsey Graham 22% George Pataki 18% Jim Gilmore 15% *Conversion rate was calculated by dividing the total consideration (1-3) score by total awareness (1-7). WELL-KNOWN TOP CHOICES WELL-KNOWN LESS POPULAR CANDIDATES LESS KNOWN/UNDER-PERFORMING HIGHEST CONSIDERATION V. AWARENESS Comparing the total awareness of each candidate to their 1-3 consideration score we see candidates who have higher awareness and popularity overall (Carson, Rubio, Fiorina, Trump) and we see that a group clustered toward the bottom left quadrant that are less known. POPULAR LOWER-RECOGNITION Bush! Carson! Fiorina! Rubio! Cruz! Trump! Gilmore! Pataki! Graham! Kasich! Jindal! Paul! Huckabee! Christie!Santorum!
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    17 14 9 7 6 6 3 3 2 2 1 1 29 DONALD TRUMP BEN CARSON CARLYFIORINA MARCO RUBIO JEB BUSH TED CRUZ JOHN KASICH MIKE HUCKABEE CHRIS CHRISTIE RAND PAUL RICK SANTORUM BOBBY JINDAL UNDECIDED Derived ballot is based on candidate rank order among the individual respondent candidate ratings.  If a respondent had a clear candidate preference (they ranked that candidate more positively than all others) that candidate received one vote.  Respondents’ preferences were split proportionally if they rated 2 or 3 candidates most highly. If a voter was split among more than 3 candidates or they did not rank any candidates positively, they were labeled undecided. DERIVED BALLOT *Pataki, Graham, and Gilmore are not listed because they received less than .5 of the derived ballot vote.
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    2 0 8 11 5 9 2 9 3 6 18 5 12 8 6 4 4 3 2 2 17 9 14 6 6 7 3 3 2 2 DONALD TRUMP CARLY FIORINA BENCARSON JEB BUSH TED CRUZ MARCO RUBIO JOHN KASICH MIKE HUCKABEE CHRIS CHRISTIE RAND PAUL MAY AUGUST COMPARED DERIVED BALLOT *Santorum, Jindal, Pataki, Graham, and Gilmore are not listed because they received 1% or less of the derived ballot vote. **Candidates are rank ordered by their October derived ballot score. OCTOBER MAY AUGUST OCTOBER
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    CHANGES IN DERIVEDBALLOT +9 +3 +2 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 -1 -2 CHRISTIE FIORINA RUBIO CARSON CRUZ HUCKABEE PAUL SANTORUM Below is the change in the derived ballot for each candidate from our August Poll to our October Poll. JINDAL TRUMP KASICH BUSH
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    18 8 7 6 4 3 2 2 2 1 45 CARSON FIORINA CRUZ RUBIO HUCKABEE BUSH PAUL CHRISTIE SANTORUM KASICH UNDECIDED Derived ballot isbased on candidate rank order among the individual respondent candidate ratings.  If a respondent had a clear candidate preference (they ranked that candidate more positively than all others) that candidate received one vote. Respondents’ preferences were split proportionally if they rated 2 or 3 candidates most highly. If a voter was split among more than 3 candidates or they did not rank any candidates positively, they were labeled undecided. Here we took a look at two scenarios: How those who support Trump preferred candidates if we removed Trump, and then how the candidate preferences changed among all our voters if we removed Trump. DERIVED BALLOT & TRUMP WHO DO TRUMP SUPPORTERS FAVOR? 20 11 9 8 7 4 3 3 3 1 1 28 CARSON FIORINA RUBIO CRUZ BUSH HUCKABEE PAUL KASICH CHRISTIE SANTORUM JINDAL UNDECIDED WHAT DOES OUR BALLOT LOOK LIKE AMONG ALL VOTERS WITHOUT TRUMP?
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    14 7 9 6 3 17 6 2 1 2 3 1 56 55 53 43 40 39 39 38 28 28 27 27 BEN CARSON MARCO RUBIO CARLYFIORINA TED CRUZ MIKE HUCKABEE DONALD TRUMP JEB BUSH CHRIS CHRISTIE BOBBY JINDAL RAND PAUL JOHN KASICH RICK SANTORUM Current Derived Ballot Potential Growth POTENTIAL GROWTH *Candidates are rank ordered by potential growth. Looking at total consideration for each candidate and adjusting for their derived ballot, we can see which candidates have the most and least potential to expand their vote share.
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    0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 0 10 2030 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Total Consideration % 1-3 TotalDerivedBallot% BALLOT CONVERSION *Ballot conversion was calculated by dividing the total derived ballot by the total consideration (1-3) score. TOP CANDIDATES POTENTIAL CONTENDERS POTENTIAL CONTENDERS LESS VIABLE HIGHEST CONSIDERATION V. BALLOT Comparing the stated total consideration of each candidate to our derived ballot we see candidates who have higher stated and derived consideration overall (Trump, Carson, Fiorina, Rubio, Cruz, Bush) and we see that a group of candidates clustered toward the bottom left quadrant that don’t have the impact the other candidates do at this time. Donald Trump 30% Ben Carson 20% Carly Fiorina 15% Jeb Bush 13% Ted Cruz 12% Marco Rubio 11% John Kasich 10% Mike Huckabee 7% Rand Paul 7% Chris Christie 5% Rick Santorum 4% Bobby Jindal 3% *Pataki, Graham, and Gilmore are not listed because they received less than .5 of the derived ballot vote. Trump! Carson! Fiorina! Rubio! Cruz! Bush! Huckabee! Christie! Kasich! Paul! Jindal! Santorum!
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    Do you thinkthat the Republican nominee, if elected president, should reach out to Democrats and work to find reasonable compromises to get things done, or should they try to lead on strong conservative principles and not compromise, even if things don’t get done in the short-run? 52% 48% WHAT KIND OF DO VOTERS WANT? Nominee 52% want a candidate who will reach out to Democrats to compromise and get things done. 48% want to elect a candidate who will stand by strong conservative principles even if things don’t get done in the short run.
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    Generally speaking whattype of candidate do you prefer nominating? 38% want to nominate a social conservative candidate 14% want to nominate a Tea Party candidate 5% want to nominate a Libertarian candidate 27% want to nominate a mainstream candidate 12% could support any type of candidate
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    41 30 19 7 3 53 29 13 3 2 Very Conservative Somewhat Conservative Moderate Somewhat Liberal Very Liberal SOCIAL FISCAL Howwould you describe your views in the area of social/fiscal issues? •  35% of Republican primary voters are both very socially and very fiscally conservative. •  68% are both socially conservative and fiscally conservative. •  15% are socially moderate or liberal and fiscally conservative. ISSUE PREFERENCES
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    19 15 10 7 5 3 33 TRUMP CARSON CRUZ FIORINA RUBIO HUCKABEE UNDECIDED Get Things DoneStand by Principles We looked at the top six derived ballot scores based on voter preference for a candidate who gets things done or instead stands by their principles. BALLOT AND CANDIDATE PREFERENCE 14 14 11 9 8 5 28 TRUMP CARSON FIORINA RUBIO BUSH KASICH UNDECIDED
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    Social Conservatives Mainstream Welooked at the top derived ballot scores based on voter preference for a particular nominee: social conservative, mainstream, Tea Party, any, or Libertarian candidate. Below are each of their top 6 choices and the number of undecided voters based on these nominee types. BALLOT AND NOMINEE TYPE 16 15 8 7 7 3 33 CARSON TRUMP RUBIO CRUZ FIORINA HUCKABEE UNDECIDED Tea Party Libertarian 14 14 12 11 9 7 22 TRUMP CARSON BUSH FIORINA RUBIO KASICH UNDECIDED 24 17 16 6 4 3 25 TRUMP CARSON CRUZ FIORINA RUBIO HUCKABEE UNDECIDED 17 13 8 6 5 3 36 TRUMP FIORINA CARSON BUSH RUBIO PAUL UNDECIDED 20 16 13 7 6 5 20 CARSON TRUMP PAUL FIORINA CRUZ BUSH UNDECIDED Could Support Any
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    PARTY COALITIONS ANDCANDIDATE CORRELATIONS
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    -­‐20.0%   -­‐10.0%   0.0%   10.0%   20.0%   30.0%   40.0%   50.0%   60.0%   70.0%   80.0%   90.0%   0%   10%   20%   30%   40%   50%   60%   70%   80%   90%   100%   Percentageofclusterthatisboth veryfiscallyandsociallyconservative Percentage of cluster that wants a candidate who “gets things done” Bubble sizes represent relative size of each cluster. AUGUST & OCTOBER POLITICAL CLUSTERING Below is the political clustering of the GOP electorate. The dotted circles represent the clusters from our August polling and the light red circles represent where our clustering stands now in October. Social Conservatives 21% Uncommitted Conservatives 7% Tea Party 7% Motivated Mainstream 17% Undecideds 11% Partisan Conservatives 11% Disengaged 17% Dissatisfied 10% We see three typical groupings within the GOP electorate that we have defined as the Motivated Mainstream, Social Conservatives, and Tea Party voters. The remaining 55% of our electorate makeup clusters of the fragmented nature of our primary which indicates the heavily undecided attitude of the majority of our voters.
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    CLUSTER DEMOGRAPHICS Social Conservatives(21% of Primary Voters): Split 51% female and 49% male, 82% identify as Republican, 87% are definitely voting, 95% are socially conservative and 95% are fiscally conservative, 67% want a socially conservative candidate nominated, 69% want a candidate who will stand by their principles if elected president. Disengaged (17% of Primary Voters): 40% male and 60% female, 81% identify as Republican, 73% definitely voting with the highest group of self- reported low turnout at 27%, 53% socially conservative and 48% moderate or liberal on social conservative issues, 64% fiscally conservative, 61% want a candidate who will compromise to get things done and are split on the type of nominee they prefer. Motivated Mainstream (17% of Primary Voters): 42% male and 58% female, 77% identify as Republican, 89% definitely voting, 50% socially conservative and 39% moderately social conservatives, 80% are fiscally conservative, 91% want a candidate who will compromise and get things done, and are looking for a more mainstream nominee. Undecideds (11% of Primary Voters): 61% male and 39% female, 81% Republican, 85% are definitely voting, 74% are socially conservative and 79% are fiscally conservative, are split on whether they would like a candidate to compromise in order to get things done or a candidate who will stand by their values and principles, 38% are looking for a social conservative nominee while 20% are looking for a Tea Party candidate. Partisan Conservatives (11% of Primary Voters): 64% male and 36% female, 85% Republican and are the highest self reported Republicans, 92% definitely voting, 88% socially conservative, 95% fiscally conservative, half of them want a social conservative elected at the nominee and the other half are split among all other types of candidates, and 66% want a candidate who will stand by their principles. Dissatisfied (10% of Primary Voters): 46% male and 54% female, 66% identify as Republican and 33% identify as Independents or something else, 80% are definitely voting, 50% want to elect a mainstream nominee, 60% are socially moderate or liberal, 57% are fiscally conservative, and 78% want a candidate who will compromise and get things done. Uncommitted Conservatives (7% of Primary Voters): 48% male and 52% female, 77% identify as Republican and 23% identify as Independents or something else, 88% reported to be definitely voting, 83% are socially conservative and 62% of them would like to see a socially conservative candidate nominated, 93% are fiscally conservative, 70% want a candidate will stand by their principles. Tea Party (7% of Primary Voters): 64% male and 36% female, 63% identify as Republican which is the lowest self reported Republican group while 37% identify as Independent or something else, 95% are definitely voting, 93% are socially conservative and 100% are fiscally conservative, two thirds prefer either a Tea Party candidate or social conservative, and they are the most firm group that wants a candidate to stand by their principles at 88%.
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    TOP CONSIDERATIONS FOREACH CLUSTER 58 30 25 24 23 18 Trump Bush Paul Carson Huckabee Christie Disengaged 17% 79 78 75 69 56 40 Fiorina Rubio Bush Carson Christie Kasich Motivated Mainstream 17% 97 97 97 97 94 94 Santorum Rubio Jindal Kasich Fiorina Cruz Undecideds 11% 87 71 68 62 62 52 Carson Rubio Cruz Fiorina Huckabee Trump Social Conservatives 21% The candidates with the highest consideration scores (1-3) within each cluster. Clusters are displayed in order by size of the vote each cluster represents. 59 45 45 34 28 26 Trump Fiorina Carson Rubio Bush Kasich Dissatisfied 10% 90 88 83 67 46 43 Rubio Fiorina Carson Cruz Jindal Huckabee Uncommitted Conservatives 7% 85 80 75 42 41 31 Carson Trump Cruz Paul Fiorina Rubio Tea Party 7% 97 93 89 84 79 60 Trump Carson Rubio Fiorina Cruz Huckabee Partisan Conservatives 11%
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    TOP CANDIDATES FOREACH CLUSTER 29 9 6 6 5 31 Trump Bush Carson Paul Fiorina Undecided Disengaged 17% 16 14 14 13 8 20 Fiorina Bush Carson Rubio Kasich Undecided Motivated Mainstream 17% 9 8 7 4 2 63 Trump Carson Fiorina Kasich Rubio Undecided Undecideds 11% 23 12 8 7 6 27 Carson Trump Cruz Rubio Huckabee Undecided Social Conservatives 21% The derived ballot among the voters in each cluster. Clusters are displayed in order by size of the vote each cluster represents. 32 10 10 10 8 32 Trump Carson Fiorina Bush Rubio Undecided Dissatified 10% 19 16 13 10 2 30 Carson Rubio Fiorina Cruz Graham Undecided Uncommitted Conservatives 7% 38 20 19 6 3 11 Trump Carson Cruz Paul Fiorina Undecided Tea Party 7% 18 15 12 9 8 34 Trump Carson Cruz Rubio Fiorina Undecided Partisan Conservatives 11%
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    CANDIDATE CORRELATIONS Candidate 3Most Correlated 3 Least Correlated Bush Christie, Graham, Kasich Trump, Cruz, Carson Carson Cruz, Rubio, Fiorina Pataki, Graham, Paul Christie Bush, Kasich, Rubio Trump, Paul, Carson Cruz Jindal, Rubio, Huckabee Bush, Pataki, Kasich Fiorina Rubio, Carson, Jindal Trump, Paul, Pataki Gilmore Pataki, Graham, Santorum Carson, Trump, Fiorina Graham Pataki, Gilmore, Santorum Carson, Trump, Fiorina Huckabee Santorum, Cruz, Jindal Trump, Bush, Fiorina Jindal Gilmore, Santorum, Cruz Trump, Bush, Carson Kasich Graham, Gilmore, Pataki Trump, Cruz, Carson Pataki Gilmore, Graham, Santorum Carson, Fiorina, Rubio Paul Gilmore, Pataki, Graham Fiorina, Carson, Rubio Rubio Fiorina, Cruz, Carson Trump, Paul, Pataki Santorum Gilmore, Pataki, Graham Trump, Fiorina, Carson Trump Cruz, Santorum, Huckabee Fiorina, Kasich, Bush This table shows which candidates are currently sharing vote consideration and which are not sharing vote consideration. Bush shares consideration with Christie, Graham and Kasich. With Carson gaining consideration in the polls, Fiorina, Cruz, and Rubio will be competing most with voters likely to support Carson. Trump is least correlated with almost every single candidate, making it difficult to know where his supporters would go if he were to drop out.
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    CORRELATION CHANGES AUGUST- OCTOBER Below shows the top three candidates most correlated with each of our presidential candidates from our August results and our October results. AUGUST OCTOBER *Bolded candidates are new correlations in the October poll. Walker and Perry are not included in the August correlations because they were not tested in October due to suspending their bid for the nomination. Candidate 3 Most Correlated Bush Christie, Graham, Kasich Carson Fiorina, Walker, Cruz Christie Bush, Graham, Gilmore Cruz Perry, Walker, Carson Fiorina Carson, Rubio, Walker Gilmore Pataki, Graham, Paul Graham Pataki, Gilmore, Santorum Huckabee Cruz, Carson, Santorum Jindal Perry, Walker, Gilmore Kasich Graham, Pataki, Rubio Pataki Gilmore, Graham, Santorum Paul Gilmore, Graham, Perry Rubio Walker, Fiorina, Cruz Santorum Perry, Graham, Jindal Trump Cruz, Santorum, Carson Candidate 3 Most Correlated Bush Christie, Graham, Kasich Carson Cruz, Rubio, Fiorina Christie Bush, Kasich, Rubio Cruz Jindal, Rubio, Huckabee Fiorina Rubio, Carson, Jindal Gilmore Pataki, Graham, Santorum Graham Pataki, Gilmore, Santorum Huckabee Santorum, Cruz, Jindal Jindal Gilmore, Santorum, Cruz Kasich Graham, Gilmore, Pataki Pataki Gilmore, Graham, Santorum Paul Gilmore, Pataki, Graham Rubio Fiorina, Cruz, Carson Santorum Gilmore, Pataki, Graham Trump Cruz, Santorum, Huckabee
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    Cruz, Huckabee Jindal, Bush, Carson Rubio Pataki Fiorina Trump Fiorinaand Trump were the candidates with the highest negative correlation. By subtracting each candidate’s Fiorina correlation from their Trump correlation, we can visualize where each candidate falls on a spectrum from one candidate to the other. FIORINA-TO-TRUMP SCALE Kasich Gilmore, Santorum Christie Graham Paul
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    Kasich Carson Jindal Santorum Cruz Bush Trump BUSH-TO-TRUMP SCALE Huckabee Paul Rubio,Pataki, Fiorina, Gilmore Christie, Graham Bush and Trump were the candidates with the second highest negative correlation. By subtracting each candidate’s Bush correlation from their Trump correlation, we can visualize where each candidate falls on a spectrum from one candidate to the other.
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    Christie Paul Santorum Trump Bush Cruz BUSH-TO-CRUZ SCALE Gilmore Kasich,Graham, Pataki Jindal, Huckabee By subtracting each candidate’s Bush correlation from their Cruz correlation, we can visualize where each candidate falls on a spectrum from one candidate to the other. Fiorina CarsonRubio
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    Kasich Paul Santorum, Pataki Cruz Rubio Trump RUBIO-TO-TRUMPSCALE Huckabee Gilmore Bush, Jindal, Christie, Carson Graham By subtracting each candidate’s Rubio correlation from their Trump correlation, we can visualize where each candidate falls on a spectrum from one candidate to the other. Fiorina
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    Christie Santorum Kasich Jindal Trump Bush Rubio BUSH-TO-RUBIOSCALE Paul Graham Huckabee By subtracting each candidate’s Bush correlation from their Rubio correlation, we can visualize where each candidate falls on a spectrum from one candidate to the other. Fiorina Carson Cruz Pataki Gilmore
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