Will ‘Electability’ Sink Trump?

Roll Call ^ | Jan. 3, 2016 | Stuart Rothenberg

[kik5150]

I like cruz a lot but I kind of agree. I wonder why he fares better in the polls. Interesting

It's simple. When Trump mocks and insults the other candidates those that support those candidates are less likely to move towards Trump once their candidate drops out.

[crusher2013]

Polls showed Carter beating Reagan by double digits two weeks before the election.

Maybe just maybe the polls are designed to influence opinion rather than inform.

[goldstategop]

The popular vote is irrelevant. State by state electoral votes elect the President.

Right now, Hillary has all the electoral vote-rich states locked up based on past voting history:

NY - 29, PA 20, VA 13, MI 16, IL 20, CA 55.

OH with 18 is a must win for a GOP presidential candidate and FL with 29 is a swing state.

[HamiltonJay]

Cruz does not open the map, in fact no other republican than Trump opens the map.

I personally see no other candidate that cracks the map wide open and puts more states in play than Trump.

Any other candidate, and you have basically the same map as 2012 with repub fighting for a handful or so states to flip there way to manage a win, because nothing has changed, even with Hillary as weak as she is as a candidate, the dynamic is the same as before... No significant change to the dynamic just hopes that a better GOTV gets a win.. Because nothing is different.

Trump cracks the map wide open IMHO... States no one could imagine being in play with anyone else open up.

[LeoWindhorse]

anyone that is stupid enough, or willfully ignorant enough, to vote for Hillary Clinton, should lose their right to vote permanently, and be forever deported from the United States of America. She is that bad of a candidate. She should not the allowed to be running for office. Any office!anyone that is willing to cast their vote for this despicable cretin should lose that right to vote. To vote for Hillary Clinton is a decidedly unAmerican, anti-american act. Such voters do not love our country

[Advil000]

No, it won’t. Because Obama already proved that electability didn’t make a difference to his getting elected for TWO terms.

We broke that paradigm already.

[Jim Robinson]

Cruz is a good man and I have high hopes for him. But he has a mighty high mountain to climb, too. Trump towers over them all and he has barely begun to fight. And has spent next to nothing compared to the others. And I wouldn’t sell Trump short on broader appeal. Americans love a strong leader. And a winner.

[jonrick46]

The fears that The Donald will not come through are the typical hand wringing that goes with the political game. What will settle those fears is when he pulls out all stops and plays his trump cards. Right now he is holding his cards for the big play and will not tell what his strategy will be. It is the art of keeping ones opponent guessing what his next move will be. The game of chess is a good example of that.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

I have been advocating for a businessman for 20 years. We spend money to find out why lesbians are obese, to teach African men how to wash their weenies after sex. Give zillions to nations whose people hate us! This is no way to run a business or a country!
I was actually a Perot fan for about a week. I have this mental cartoon of the little guy streaking around the Oval Office desk, squeaking “Veto! Veto! We Can’t afford that! Veto! Veto!” The money we spend on complete bs is completely insane!

[caww]

...."No other GOP candidate has his star power and broad appeal.".....

Otherwise called a 'Celebrity Politician'....and in this case also selling his brand to an eager public........'salespeople' may 'mirror' YOUR speech, mannerisms, and behavior. This concept is known as mirroring, and works to increase 'your positive feelings toward the seller'... Mirroring also works well with branding, as a particular brand may be intended for 'a target' audience.....Trump has the technique down to a science after 20 years of practice....he's simply transferred it over to the political stage with all the buzz words his new audience wants to hear...and since starving for attention he's able to feed them easily and quench their thirst..

[hoosiermama]

“Electability”
Is the easiest part of a poll to manipulate. We actually put it in practice in high school fifty years ago. If there is a candidate that you do not think you can beat a coalition of the other candidates is formed to check the box creating unelectable. You vote for your candidate and against the person at the top Since DT is at the top of all, the R candidates will naturally coalesce with D to make him look bad
Doesn’t mean a thing — except DT is winning and they all know it!

[hoosiermama]

That is the exact reason CRUZ is more suited for the judicial branch of government and not the executive. He has no managerial experience running anything. On the bench of the SCOTUS he would serve for life and better meet the country’s needs

[frnewsjunkie]

If obama is going to spend his last year seeing what all he can do to make more and more angry.. Trump’s numbers will just continue to go up.

If the feds keep raising the interest rate. If more and more refugees are forced on us. If, God forbid, there are more attacks against the US. Hillary will have her hands full trying to explain. obama does not care, but the clintons will have to. And with Trump on the stage every day going after her, it’s going to be a hard sell for hillary.

[Charles Henrickson]

Trump's image with all registered voters at 33 percent favorable/59 percent unfavorable - dismal numbers, and the highest unfavorable rating of any GOP hopeful.

This is what I've been saying all along: Trump's negatives are through the roof. Trump has virtually 100% name recognition, and most people have a negative view toward him. He who lives by the poll shall die by the poll.

[Georgia Girl 2]

I’m not worried about Trump winning the general election. It will probably be a bigger landslide than Reagan.

[RitaOK]

So much panic. So little common sense.

The Clinton camp is concerned about one guy right now, TRUMP, and how in the world they can answer his style of attack, if she can even beat him. Read it on DRUDGE 30 minutes ago.

We should reckon the Clinton camp serves as pretty interesting poll of its own. They aren’t beginners at sizing up their prey.

Fearlessness is something Hillary Clinton has never faced. She is used to bearing that role, arriving in full battle array herself, with political and media forces fit for Cleopatra.

Well, not any more.

This TRUMP guy is no run of the mill political game player and everybody knows it.

[ifinnegan]

Thanks for the link.

It shows there zero significant difference between any of them.

The funniest thing is the outliers.

Fox News has Trump losing by 11 to Clinton and Bush beating her by 6!

That’s actually laughable.

And those are included in the average.

It’s a joke.

[hoosiermama]

Trump will do one better than posting a picture of her with her finger up her nose to make her a laughing stock hmmmm. Wonder what’s available ?

He understands marketing and marginalizing better than any non-business candidate. He hasn’t started on HRC yet.

T is for Tsunami!

[grey_whiskers]

Many Freezers report that lots of Dems that they have as relatives, co-workers, and so forth, are actually enthusiastic about voting for Trump, but just have to be careful to whom they admit it.

If true, this will certainly swing MI and PA; VA is up in the air due to the beltway bandits and their families not actually feeling any privation. What will also happen, is that the (carefully hidden from us) internals of the polls will force the Dems to spend money to shore up leaks, and protect former "solid" areas.

Also, 'ware of coattails. IF the GOPe were not a bunch of blackmailed creeps and or Democrat moles, they'd join with Trump and turn the election into a celebratory rout and repudiation of everything Obama, Kerry and Clinton have ever worked for.

[RitaOK]

You are the nervous type aren’t you? LOL! There’s a lot of swinging there, but with all that action, you just can’t cough up a hit.