GOP poll finds receptive audience for Rubio, Carson and Cruz

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz have something going for them every time they’re on stage or on TV.

The more Republicans hear about the three presidential contenders, the more they like them, a new McClatchy-Marist Poll finds.

That’s crucial at this stage of the nominating process since Carson, a retired neurosurgeon; Rubio, a freshman senator from Florida; and Cruz, a freshman senator from Texas, are still largely unknown to most voters.

They’ll all be in the spotlight Tuesday as Republicans debate for the fourth time, and they’re all well-positioned to bolster their status as top-tier candidates. Or let curious Republicans down.

“It’s huge,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducts the survey, said of the early impressions. “This is an electorate unusually attentive that’s watching these debates.”

Sunshine.