I am so glad to finally see some sanity prevail in the latest poll numbers.
Despite the fact that Donald Trump has widen his lead from 5 points to 13 points since December, and in a three-way match up, he would get 40% to 31% for Ted Cruz and 26% for Marco Rubio, when goes head to head against Ted Cruz, he loses 43% to 51%. Trump would beat Rubio 52% to 45% in a head to head. Most of Marco Rubio supporters would support Ted Cruz when Rubio drops out. On top of that, 71% of Republican primary voters can see themselves supporting Cruz while it's 65% for Trump. So it's great for Ted Cruz over all.
Trump, who is 69, has the highest net worth overall among the three at 4.5 billion, despite the four bankruptcies in the last 25 years. I was really turned off at the four bankruptcies. But on closer look, they were not personal bankruptcies, and were all chapter 11, not chapter 7. Still, he is a little too bombastic and too much of a showman for me to take seriously. But I could vote for him if he were the nominee, though I hope he won't be.
I had very favorable view of Marco Rubio when I first heard about him from governor Jeb Bush over ten years ago. He was a first generation American of Cuban descent who was speaker of the Florida House at the time. But his at best mixed feelings about gay marriage leaves me much to desire. And most of all, his financial mismanagement is well documented. At 44, his net worth is at $100,000. Among all the twenty 2016 presidential candidates from both parties, he is second from bottom. Only Martin O'Malley is doing worse, at zero, because the former Maryland governor took on debts to send all his four kids to college. I would vote for him if he were the nominee, though I hope he won't be.
Ted Cruz, at 45, has a net worth of 3.5 million, is pretty decent. His lack of disclosure of the Goldman Sachs loan at the time of his Senate run isn't much of a big deal to me. Because I have seen it much worse what candidates will do when it's crunched time and they cannot match their opponent's spending. It's been disclosed plenty of time since then, specifically in his personal financial disclosure. The loan was backed by his assets. And they have been paid back in full. He did not get a break.
