Trump’s missed opportunity

drawn to the appeal of a businessman, and especially a nonpolitician, running for president. (She still has warm feelings for Ben Carson, whose candidacy she admired.) But she can no longer support Trump and has “pretty closely decided” to vote for Hillary Clinton.

“I so much wanted Trump,” Donna told a focus group held Tuesday night in the Charlotte area by the Democratic pollster Peter Hart. “I so much wanted a non-politician. But I don’t trust him, and I’ve become afraid of him.”

Why afraid? asked Hart.

“Because I just don’t think he knows when to shut up,” Donna answered. “If he would just say, I’m a businessman, I’m not a politician, I’m going to make America great again -- and stop right there -- then I would vote for him.”

When did Trump lose you? Hart asked.

“Around the summertime, so it guess it was around the conventions,” Donna answered. “I started getting nervous. He just went off and his face gets all red.”

Another Hart question: When his face gets red, what does that say to you?

“I see a temper, a temper tantrum, like a little boy,” Donna said. “I had five brothers, and I remember that face. And that’s when I got scared of him.”

“So I started to listen more to Clinton. I don’t like Clinton, let me tell you, and I don’t trust her, but I think she’s the lesser of two evils.”

There were a dozen people in Hart’s group, six men and six women. They were all what Hart called “late deciders” -- they had made their choice in the last couple of months -- or were still undecided. Of the men, three appeared to support Trump, with some reservations, while two appeared to less reluctantly support Clinton. One was difficult to read. The ones who supported Trump worried a lot about the Supreme Court and on that basis chose to back the Republican. (Indeed, for most of the Trump leaners, the future of the Court was nearly the only reason cited to explain their support.)

But it was the women who told the story of the group -- and perhaps the election.

Another woman, Jennifer, began by saying she is still undecided. “I’m kind of like Donna,” she said. “I wanted to like Trump. But I don’t know that I can, because it’s embarrassing the way he acts, his temper tantrums. I think he’s just an embarrassment to our country. I don’t embrace Clinton, but I’d vote for her. It’s probably going to be a vote against Trump.”

By the end of her remarks, Jennifer didn’t seem so undecided anymore.

Still another woman, Denise, said she too is undecided, but leaned a little the other way. “I’m leaning slightly towards Trump based on Supreme Court decisions, national security, pro-life,” Denise said. “Mainly for what the party stands for, not as much the candidate.”

Hart asked Denise if she had anything to say to Donna -- that is, perhaps to persuade her it’s OK to support Trump.

“No,” said Denise, adding that it’s a personal decision. She appeared to completely understand her fellow group members’ choice not to support Trump.

As the talk went on, it became obvious that Trump could have had the support of Donna and Jennifer, and could have had the