The Donald Visits Big D Monday
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - In what has become one of the biggest political events in Texas this year, the Donald is visiting Big D. Billionaire Donald Trump is bringing his presidential campaign and star power to the American Airlines Center, where he will address an estimated 17,000 people Monday evening.
Tickets to the event are gone.
The real estate mogul's stop in North Texas comes at a time when he is still surging in the polls nationally and in the three states with the earliest electoral contests: Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. A new poll in California also shows Trump ahead of his 15 other Republican competitors.
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry suspended his second run for the White House on Friday afternoon amid low poll numbers and campaign cash.
Trump has turned the Republican primary on its head. Few, if any political analysts expected Trump to maintain his lead in the polls, much less increase it. Those who were dominant earlier including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio have seen their support and poll numbers erode.
As Trump remains the consistent first choice, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is a solid second in national polls, and those in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and now California.
Here in Texas, Senator Ted Cruz remains very popular, especially with the Tea Party and grassroots conservatives. At rallies in Texas just before Labor Day, Cruz said he expected to win the Texas primary, during Super Tuesday March 1.
Cruz has gone out of his way not to criticize Trump and has said the other Republicans who have, are making a big mistake. While other candidates have fallen in the Republican polls, Cruz has increased his support - even though he is still far behind Trump and Carson.
Some grassroots conservatives and Tea Party members say they don't like Trump because they don't believe he is conservative enough. But clearly plenty of other conservatives and Republicans do. Some candidates, such as Bush have said Trump is no conservative because of his past decisions and because he has given money to Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, now running for her party's nomination.
To be clear, many in the grassroots in Texas criticize Bush for not being conservative enough as well.
For now, the question is who will be in the crowd of thousands Monday night watching Trump? Conservatives, moderate Republicans, independents, or perhaps even some Democrats?
While Trump speaks, protesters plan to march to the AAC where they plan to demonstrate against him and what they call his hateful speech against illegal immigrants from Mexico. Although Trump's comments attracted a lot of controversy earlier this summer, they haven't hurt him in the polls -- they've helped him.
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