Posted on 04/22/2016 4:39:55 PM PDT by markomalley
The Washington Free Beacon‘s Elizabeth Harrington discussed Donald Trump’s presidential path to the nomination on Varney and Co. Friday, saying as the potential Republican standard-bearer Trump would give Hillary Clinton a far tougher race than people expect.
Much has been made about Trump’s attempts to look more “presidential,” and host Stuart Varney asked Harrington about whether such a shift would hurt him with people who prefer his unorthodox approach.
“If he calmed down and is more presidential maybe we will be bored with him, maybe he’ll lose some support,” Varney said. “What say you?”
“Trump is heading in to the home stretch here and he wants the establishment to get behind him,” Harrington said. “In order to do that he needs to act presidential and be taken seriously, but at the same time, I think you’re still going to see the Donald Trump we’ve grown accustomed to on the campaign trail.”
Varney then asked about the general election.
“If it’s Trump versus Hillary in November, who wins?” he asked.
Harrington would not discount Trump in a general election against Clinton, the almost surefire nominee after she soundly defeated Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in New York’s primary Tuesday. Both Clinton and Trump sport low favorability numbers with the public.
“I think it would be a lot closer than a lot of people are saying. I think Trump puts a lot of states on the map that Republicans haven’t seen in years and really, when you look at the polls now, until asking the voters about November, it’s purely a hypothetical thing,” Harrington said. “I don’t think the polls really carry much influence so, yeah, I think it would be pretty close, but I think Trump would have a shot and a lot of people are writing him off right now.”
I’m prepared to be called a “concern troll” and don’t give a @#$.
I’m a worrier and was glad to see Fox had trump down by just 7.
But all the others are 10 or 11.
He is competitive in PA, which could be huge!
and a lot depends on who he picks for VP.
statistically, is April any kind of harbinger? I don’t know, never started following until maybe September in the past.
Was the Reagan era being 30 years ago a factor? or are there still lots of Reagan dems?
I DO know white men are gonna turn out in droves that haven’t voted for a while.
Thanks for answers in advance.
Actually, Trump has a much greater shot at beating Hillary than Cruz. Trump’s bold America First message is hitting home with the middle class, including democrat voters. Cruz narrowed his message to evangelicals and issues that are turnoffs to anyone but ultra conservatives. He will get very few independent and crossover voters. Hillary will eat his lunch.
I’m a people. I don’t think the race versus The Hag will be tough for The Trump, therefore this article has it all wrong.
Jim, I really hope you're right.
Trump knows things that Hillary and Bill have been hiding for years...why do you think she shut her trap when he smacked her about ‘Bill’s sexism’ that was just a smack, he will let the whole herd of lions out when he goes after her and Bill and they know it...
The hatred of Hitlery within her own party is greatly underestimated.
“Cruz narrowed his message to evangelicals and issues that are turnoffs to anyone but ultra conservatives. He will get very few independent and crossover voters. Hillary will eat his lunch.”
The good news Jim is that Cruz isn’t going to get the chance. With the win in NY starting the snowball on it’d downhill path, the final primaries are going to move in Trump’s favor simply because a lot of people want to vote for a winner. And the more Cruz plays his “delegate theivery game,” the more people are goind to be turned off by it. And as I see it, Hillary is not prepared to run against Trump. He will sink his teeth into her backside like a Pit Bull and not let go!
Trumps would have to do more than throw out insults and whine if he wants to lower his negatives.
On the one hand it wouldn’t bother me to see a white hot meteor fly out of the heavens at 100,000 mph and drill a hole dead center through Hillary at any time.
On the other hand it would be extra enjoyable to see her go all the way to election night thinking she would be president only to have Trump crush her like Bluto crushed that beer can against his forehead in Animal House.
But with the filthy tricks democrat do so well and their usual vote fraud she will probably harvest more than enough votes from dead people, non-existent humans and multiple voters to win any election.
I DO know white men are gonna turn out in droves that haven’t voted for a while.
**************************
That’s your answer. Trump is drawing in people who had given up on voting.
35 state landslide.
Please be right.
I can rest peacefully, all of us, for ONE DAY after eight years when we win.
The hatred of Hitlery within her own party is greatly underestimated.
—
That’s right. So is the fear of her. She would bring down the wrath of Hell down upon her opponents and enemies if she becomes POTUS. Many don’t want her as POTUS for that reason alone.
And he’s making other people realize the deck is stacked in favor of the left. The next next for years are going to move the country much farther to the left than the last eight.
If he bones up on policy and communicates beyond the Don Rickles yucks, I think he has the potential to absolutely destroy her. Negative numbers aside, I think people WANT to like Trump because he’s such a natural leader. Maybe I’m speaking for myself—I want to like him, but he’s giving me plenty to cringe about. The same can’t be said for Hilda. She is thoroughly unlikable, corrupt to the core, and will look like a nagging ex-wife when she’s standing next to Trump.
Exactly. If he ever developed a coherent agenda and stayed on message he would destroy her. Again, Cankles is the most despised person in American history. This should be child’s play.
Trump keeps saying he’s going to win New York from Hillary. And the evidence? Well he says so, that I can tell you.
What does the evidence actually say? Polls show him down about 19 % in NY. Demographically it seems an impossible state for him to win, and in the recent primary, Hillary got far more votes than Trump, Kasich and Cruz put together and twice as many Dems voted overall than Repubs.
So why would Trump say he’s going to win there? Because he just says what sounds good at any time. That I can tell you.
Trump will not tone down his rallies, because that's what makes them lively. But he will toss in a few presidential policy speeches like the one he gave at AIPAC.
Introducing this kind of change-up does several things. On one hand, it shows he can be presidential, but--by being the same old Trump at rallies--it keeps the campaign fun, exciting, and unpredictable.
And it keeps his opponents on edge.
One additional note. As he begins to unify the GOP, he will stop making accusations about the system being "rigged". Of course, if he has the nomination wrapped up, it no longer matters whether or not the system is rigged.
Yep - Trump maintains broad support and Cruz’s original “Uber Conservative” base has been watered down/alienated by the delegate antics. I started out really pro-Cruz, but am adaptable enough to see the writing on the wall.
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