Carson edges Trump as Bush family holds 'crisis' talks

Ben Carson has edged ahead of Donald Trump nationally in the US battle for the Republican presidential nomination, a new poll showed on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 as the Republican Party gears for next primary debate. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The New York Times/CBS News survey show Mr Carson, a retired paediatric neurosurgeon who has never held public office, is the presidential pick of 26 per cent of respondents, compared with 22 per cent for Trump, although the difference lies within the margin of error of six percentage points.
  • It comes the day before the next Republican primary debate, when a national audience will get another look at the top 10 candidates in the field.

WASHINGTON, Tuesday

Ben Carson has edged ahead of Donald Trump nationally in the US battle for the Republican presidential nomination, a new poll showed on Tuesday, the latest sign of slippage for the brash billionaire.

The results mark the first time Mr Trump has been dislodged from the top of the broad Republican field in months, and reflect continued preference for outsider candidates more than 13 months before the 2016 presidential election.

The New York Times/CBS News survey show Mr Carson, a retired paediatric neurosurgeon who has never held public office, is the presidential pick of 26 per cent of respondents, compared with 22 per cent for Trump, although the difference lies within the margin of error of six percentage points.

The other candidates trail far behind. Senator Marco Rubio is third with eight per cent, while Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and the son and brother of two presidents, is tied at seven per cent with former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina.

The survey does not herald drastic change, but it does suggest incremental shifts in a turbulent nomination process in which establishment-leaning candidates have struggled to make headway against strong populist currents in their party.

It comes the day before the next Republican primary debate, when a national audience will get another look at the top 10 candidates in the field.

BUSH FAMILY IN TALKS

Meanwhile, in an effort to lift Bush’s campaign off life support, three generations of his famous family rallied around Jeb, gathering in Houston, Texas for a two-day closed-door reunion aimed at reassuring donors that a third Bush presidency was more than a fleeting possibility.

Former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, Jeb’s father and brother, were on hand to press the flesh and snap photos with deep-pocketed backers, as the 2016 candidate sought to strike a motivational tone for the contest ahead.

Over breakfast with donors Monday, the 62-year-old Bush laid out his “broad, big and bold optimistic message,” said Florida lobbyist and consultant Slater Bayliss of Advocacy Group at Cardenas Partners.

Bayliss was one of many donation bundlers — whose role is to organize and collect campaign contributions — in attendance.

Charles Foster, a prominent immigration lawyer who raises money for Bush, said the meeting was mischaracterized by some as an emergency session where the clan swooped in to reverse the slide.