As we reported last week, a group spent $1 million in New Hampshire running anti-Kasich ads that cite his support for Common Core (as well as his Medicaid expansion) as proof that (as the ad says, not me) he is not a conservative.
Two new polls suggest the ads have worked, putting a screeching halt to a nascent Kasich surge in the Granite State. Kasich had polled as high as 20 percent in one poll in mid-January (perhaps an outlier), but he is only at 8 percent in the latest Boston Herald poll and just 9 percent in the CNN end of January poll.
New Hampshire remains Donald Trump territory, with a continuing scrum for who becomes the Trump alternative. Both these N.H. polls, however, show Ted Cruz leading the scrum in second place, beating Marco Rubio by a nose.
It will be a few weeks before we know for sure, but it looks like support for Common Core has just killed another GOP presidential candidate’s hopes.
Maggie Gallagher is a senior fellow at the American Principles Project.
