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WFB's Liz Harrington on Republican Shuffle in Poll Rankings

The Washington Free Beacon's Liz Harrington appeared on Fox Business to discuss the shakeups in the Republican presidential race.

Transcript:

STUART VARNEY: Liz, Bush is fading. Is that the result of Trump's attacks or problems with the candidate Bush himself?

LIZ HARRINGTON: I don't think it's as a result of Trump's attacks. I think it's the candidate himself. I think throughout this campaign Bush has not really been the candidate that everyone thought he would be. This, you know, kind of the adult in the room, this smart guy. He really hasn't. He's made a ton of gaffes. At least when Trump talks, he intentionally says what he wants to say. Jeb Bush keeps stepping in it and these are sound bites that are going to stick with him if he becomes the nominee.

VARNEY: It's by comparison, too, the way that Jeb Bush comes across versus the way that Donald Trump comes across. A lot of people want more the dramatic direct approach of Donald Trump. Now about Scott Walker, he's faded pretty badly, too. How do you account for that, Trump's attacks?

HARRINGTON: I don't think it's Trump's attacks necessarily, it's just, he is offering this kind of more attractive thing that he's not a politician, right? So when you see these guys that are very normal politicians and in Jeb Bush's case, he's rusty. He hasn't been in the national spotlight for a while and it shows. Walker on the other hand, he's new to the national scene and successful in Wisconsin, but he's trying to navigate how to work with the media and tried to, you know, take positions that don't make him look weak and then set himself apart and Trump is taking the support away. So, really, you're seeing that dynamic there.

VARNEY: I've got 20 seconds, why has Ben Carson surged in this Iowa poll?

HARRINGTON: Because he's a grassroots favorite. He's not a politician, he is an alternative to Trump for people in Iowa and they like him. He seems like a normal person that, you know, believes what people in Iowa agree with.

VARNEY: All right, Liz. There's a lot of movement on the left and the right over this past weekend. Politics are entertaining and fascinating. I love it.

Published under: 2016 Election , Video