Polls! Dr. Ben Carson tied with Trump in GOP race. Carly & Rubio gain. Jeb in freefall.

About a month ago, we learned that Donald Trump and Ben Carson were in a virtual dead heat in Iowa. People naturally wondered if the polling would be borne out nationwide, or if it was a local anomaly. A couple of weeks later we started to receive word that Trump's lead was shrinking and Ben Carson was closing in - fast.

Still, Trump supporters were sure those polls were outliers since there was no way "the Donald" could be losing ground to an "OK doctor who hasn't created enough jobs." Now, however, they're being forced to deal with reality. A new WSJ/NBC poll confirms that Dr. Ben Carson has obliterated Trump's lead.

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As you can see, Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio both turned their standout debate performances into poll-bumps. They're now tied for third place. On the other end of things sits Jeb Bush, whose numbers numbers are imploding. As the Washington Post reports, Jeb's already unspectacular polling has taken a really ugly turn:

In April, one in every four likely Republican primary voters nationally said they would support Jeb Bush for president, according to an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll. Today, just 7 percent say the same.

Lest you think the NBC/WSJ poll is skewed somehow, the WaPo would like to point out that Jeb's Real Clear Politics average is also collapsing. One could, possibly, make a case that he's still the GOP-Elite favorite, but it's becoming an increasingly specious argument as Rubio's numbers increase. No candidate still in the race has watched their polling take such a precipitous drop. Obviously, we're still a long way out and Jeb has a lot of money behind him, but if he doesn't reverse this trend - immediately - it's virtually impossible to see a way for him to clinch nomination.

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