IA & SC-Wickers Group: Huckabee 1st, Christie & Cruz 2nd/3rd in both states

[Mr. Morden]

Wickers group poll of 402 likely GOP voters in Iowa:

http://therun2016.com/huckaboom-polls-show-leads-iowa-south-carolina/

Mike Huckabee 21%
Chris Christie 14%
Ted Cruz 14%
Rand Paul 11%
Marco Rubio 9%
Rick Santorum 9%
Rick Perry 5%
Not Sure/Refused 17%

And their poll of 400 likely GOP voters in South Carolina:

Mike Huckabee 24%
Chris Christie 15%
Ted Cruz 12%
Marco Rubio 12%
Rand Paul 11%
Rick Santorum 6%
Rick Perry 5%
Not Sure/Refused 15%

Also...

IOWA favorability:
Mike Huckabee 75%
Rand Paul 65%
Rick Santorum 59%
Marco Rubio 58%
Ted Cruz 55%
Chris Christie 49%

SOUTH CAROLINA favorability:
Mike Huckabee 72%
Rand Paul 60%
Marco Rubio 58%
Ted Cruz 55%
Rick Santorum 53%
Chris Christie 46%

They don't list the unfavorable numbers for any of the candidates.

[Mr. Morden]

Only 46% approval for Christie! Hard to see him even coming close to the nomination with these numbers.

Favorability, not approval.  In any case, Christie doesn't really need to win Iowa or SC.  And Romney also had some of the worst favorability numbers in the field in the early 2012 polls, especially in states like these.  The "moderate" candidate in the GOP field always has a decent sized block of the party who gives him an unfavorable rating in polls like these, yet it doesn't necessarily prevent them from winning.