Trump has gigantic lead, 36-19, over Cruz in new South Carolina poll

Yuge.

Question for everyone who figures it's just a matter of time before Trump implodes and a "serious" candidate takes control in the Republican nomination race: Er, when exactly should we look for this to happen? Because I suppose this new Opinion Savvy poll of South Carolina could be way off, but that's not what happened in New Hampshire. Whatever this thing is that's going to happen that will take Trump out, let me know when you see it coming:

An Opinion Savvy poll of likely South Carolina voters in next Saturday’s Republican Primary there continues to show Donald Trump leading by a relatively wide margin. The poll of likely voters was conducted February 10-11 by phone and mobile devices. The poll was weighted by age, race, gender, evangelical vote, and region. It has a margin of error of 3.5% and 95% confidence level:

The Results:

Trump: 36%

Cruz: 19%

Rubio: 15%

Bush: 11%

Kasich: 9%

Carson: 5%

Undecided: 5%

Analysis by Matt Towery (Sr.) Political Analyst FOX5 Atlanta/columnist and frequent pollster for MorrisNewspapers: “The poll conducted by Opinion Savvy (which is owned and managed by Matt Towery, Jr.) is one of the most detailed surveys I have seen conducted in a South Carolina primary. Looking at the various cross tabulations, it is easy to see why Trump has such a strong lead at this point in the race. Trump carries every age group except for the youngest (18-29) where Rubio nudges Trump out by 7 points. But Trump has comfortable leads among the other age groups in the poll. Trump has the highest support from almost every segment of respondents grouped by political philosophy. Trump leads among those describing themselves as “very conservative,” “somewhat conservative,” “moderate” and “somewhat liberal.”  John Kasich leads among the few South Carolina GOP voters who describe themselves as “very liberal.”

So, er, congratulations to John Kasich for his popularity with "very liberal" Republicans? I guess?

If the whole Rubio strategy is to wait out Trump's implosion and then capture his votes, boy, I don't know how many delegates will be up for grabs by the time that happens, if it ever happens. And what reason is there at this point to think it will ever happen? The political class has more than made its case at this point that Trump is not a real conservative, does not have the temperament to be president, lacks a real grasp of policy questions, etc.

Is there seriously anyone who hasn't heard all that at this point? And yet there he is, not only leading but leading decisively. I can only conclude that there is a huge chasm between the small segment of hyperpolitical people who discuss these things endlessly on social media and wherever else — who care deeply about all these Trump sortcomings — and normal people who vote, and don't care about any of that stuff.

Anyway, if South Carolina goes as this poll suggests, I wouldn't say Rubio's done but I would say he almost has to have a first-place finish in the next few primaries thereafter. As for Bush, Kasich and Carson, I'm not sure the point of sticking around any further at this point (except that Bush still has $60 million to burn), but I suppose there's always the dream of that big Trump implosion that brings all the Trump voters suddenly into their camp.

Maybe Mike Murphy can start a "Trump Fans for Jeb" movement. Hard to see how that could fail.