Tim Scott remains well behind frontrunner Donald Trump in the national horserace polls. A number of key indicators from favorability ratings to earlystate polling to fundraising suggest Scott may be the GOP candidate to watch besides the former president or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Scott has two things on his side that will allow him to gain recognition as the race progresses. A super PAC supporting Scott has reserved million in ad time at the beginning of the fall across the early nominating states Iowa New Hampshire and South Carolina. A plurality of Republicans who werent selecting Scott in the presidential race said the big question going forward is what happens when Scott gets challenged directly by the other candidates. See Jeb Bush in . Our SSRS poll from May revealed that Scott was the candidate GOP voters most wanted to hear more about. Its time for Scott to move up considerably if he can handle the big stage then watch out. But if Scott can’t handle the spotlight his numbers will become brighter if he moves up considerably in the polls. But he is still not particularly well known. Nearly half of Republicans nationally havent heard enough about him to form an opinion according to Quinnipiac compared with for Trump and for DeSanticon. A high favorability rating is far from a guarantee that a candidate will do well. But a high favorable rating often earns a candidate a closer inspection by voters. That happened to deSantis earlier this year helping him to climb in the poll. He has since fallen considerably behind Trump in national surveys showing that such an examination doesnt always work out in a candidates favor. Scott however seems to be picking up some steam in the states that matter most at this point in the race Iowa and New Hampshire. A University of New Hampshire poll conducted this month had the senator in third place at in the GOP primary. Scott also had the best net favorable rating of any Republican candidate in the survey regardless of name recognition. This is another indicator that the more voters get to know him the more theyll like him. Many campaigns dont even make it to the primaries because they run out of money. Many voters will start paying attention as the debates begin and the primaries draw closer. The money his campaign does have can be spent on organization and advertisements. Scotts apparatus had million in cash on hand as of June second only toTrump in the Republican primary. The most attacks are focused on Trump and the press is focused on the Florida governor. Scottts numbers arent easy to be seen as a nice guy when the spotlight isnt that bright but if Scotts numbers become brighter they could surprise a lot of people in presidential race. Scott’s campaign does not seem in danger of that. The polling from Iowa has been limited and none of it meets s standards for publication but an interesting nugget has emerged from the data that have been released to the public. All of it including surveys sponsored by groups sympathetic to DeSantes and Trumps campaigns has Scott inThird place. Scott is still in the third place with million on hand.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is running for president in 2016. Scott is considered one of the front-runners in the GOP presidential race.
