Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump continues to lead the GOP field in a new national ABC/Washington Post poll, not only in terms of voter preference, but also in voter expectation, a clear sign the insurgent billionaire real estate mogul is starting to resemble a more traditional front-runner rather than a mere fad.
Trump took the biggest lead in weeks with 32 percent support among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who are registered to vote. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, also an outsider with no political experience, followed with 22 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in third at 10 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush took fourth with 7 percent and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz placed fifth with 6 percent.
Even more Republican-leaning respondents, 42 percent, said they expect Trump to win the GOP nomination for president, while 43 percent said they believe Trump has the greatest chance of winning the general election in 2016. Carson took second, with 15 percent of Republican voters saying he is most likely to win the nomination, while 12 percent chose Bush and 5 percent Rubio. For most likely to win the general election, Carson also took second behind Trump, with 16 percent, followed by Bush with 13 percent and Rubio with 11 percent.
Trump also led the other top-five contenders on many key attributes, with nearly half - 47 percent - viewing him as the strongest leader. Thirty-nine percent believe Trump would best handle immigration, 32 percent feel he most closely represents their stance on the issues, and 29 percent said he "best understands the problems of people like you."
However, more Republicans view Carson as the most honest and trustworthy, 33 percent, compared to 21 percent for Trump. Carson was also viewed as having the best personality and temperament, 24 percent versus Trump's 19 percent. Bush led in having the best experience, 31 percent to Trump's 23 percent.
Another particularly weak issue for Trump and Bush is that the more people hear about the two candidates, the less they like them. The opposite is true for Carson, with his likeability going up the more people hear about him.
Trump also still loses in most head-to-head matchups with other major candidates, according to a recent Economist/YouGov poll.
The ABC/Washington Post telephone poll was conducted Oct. 15-18 among a random sample of 1,001 adults including 423 leaned Republicans. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for the total sample, and a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points for Republican-leaners.
