Thursday, January 7, 2016

The Lid: Trump's Big General Election Problem

 
Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos… Donald Trump is feuding on Twitter with Samuel L. Jackson over their golf skills. Which we can only assume with end with the two of them doing an elaborate re-enaction of the "Big Kahuna Burger" scene from Pulp Fiction.

'16 from 30,000

Even though it might not feel like it in this crazy news cycle, (see: arguing about Marco Rubio's shoes), we're getting close to actual voters making actual, consequential decisions about candidates. Our big sib First Read wrote this morning about how *unacceptable* most of the establishment GOP candidates are to their own electorate. The flip side of that coin is just how much Donald Trump has traveled from being unacceptable to being, well, pretty okay, actually. In March 2015, only 23 percent of GOP voters said they could see themselves supporting Trump. Now? Fifty-eight percent. National Journal's Ron Brownstein makes a great point today noting how the "Trump Gap" is increasing. Meaning: As Republicans increasingly view Trump as a conceivable nominee, Democrats and independents view him as LESS acceptable. It sets up a scenario where, if Trump actually wins the party nod, he'll need to win back really significant ground with these groups fast to have a prayer of being successful in the general election. And he'd probably start in a deeper hole than any GOP nominee in recent memory. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: NBC News 

No comments: