‘Exceptionally rancid’ Trump has uphill battle
GOP front-runner scores poorly in poll
— If Donald Trump secures the Republican presidential nomination, he would start the general election campaign as the least-popular candidate to represent either party in modern times.
Three-quarters of women view him unfavourably. So do nearly two-thirds of independents, 80 per cent of young adults, 85 per cent of Hispanics and nearly half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.
Those findings, tallied from Washington Post-ABC News polling, fuel Trump’s overall 67-per-cent unfavourable rating — making Trump more disliked than any major-party nominee in the 32 years the survey has been tracking candidates.
Head-to-head matchups show Hillary Clinton, as well as her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, leading Trump, often by double digits. Even his two remaining fellow GOP contenders this week backed away from earlier promises to support the eventual nominee.
And with each passing day, Trump makes moves that add further uncertainty to his ability to pivot to the general election.
His defiant defence this week of his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who was charged with battery for yanking a female reporter, as well as his remarks Wednesday that women who get abortions should be punished could further alienate the broader electorate.
“Normally, when you’re in a hole, the best advice is to stop digging. That doesn’t appear to be his inclination,” GOP strategist David Carney said.
Peter Hart, a veteran Democratic pollster who has studied public impressions of Trump, said voters’ views of him are “exceptionally rancid.
“In terms of any domestic personality that we have measured, we’ve never seen an individual with a higher negative,” Hart said.
Trump has drawn huge crowds and built a passionate base of supporters who have helped him amass a big delegate lead in the battle for the nomination.
But his success among a segment of the Republican electorate stands in contrast to his weaknesses in a general election decided by all voters.
Trump’s unpopularity in the poll was driven in part by sharply negative ratings from Democrats and lukewarm Republicans.
A silver lining for Trump is that voters overall also feel antipathy for Clinton, the Democratic front-runner. The distaste for Clinton is not as strong as it is for Trump — 52 per cent of voters see her unfavourably — but Clinton’s vulnerabilities, combined with Trump’s unpredictability, haunt many Democrats.
Guy Cecil, chief strategist for the pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA, urged Democrats to “postpone the tickertape parade,” warning that Trump is not as weak as the current atmosphere would suggest.
“He’s going to attempt to throw everything, including the kitchen sink and maybe the refrigerator and stove at Hillary,” Cecil said. “And I would not be surprised if he changes his views on policy issues.”