preparations and from what i can tell, they are preparing for a fight. a little while ago i spoke to senator rand paul of kentucky. he was pretty tough on donald trump in the first debate. he told me he wasn't tough enough. he is gearing up to go right after the republican front-runner donald trump literally and figuratively the man in the middle. >> the polls come out, and we're really killing it. we are killing it. >> reporter: tonight a new poll from cbs news and "the new york times" shows ben carson closer than ever, with jeb bush drifting further and further back. carson was polling at 6% just one month ago while bush has dropped seven points since august. so far, though, nothing and no one has managed to push trump from his perch. >> what's donald trump say about the decision? >> reporter: but when the going gets tough, the tough go negative. for the first time an outside group, the conservative club for growth, opened its wallet. >> trump, the worst kind of