From the Thursday Morning Jolt:
Trump’s in a Bad Spot, With Few Signs of Hope on the Horizon
Another week of mostly brutal polls for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton has led the past fourteen national polls; with Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein in the mix, Trump is struggling to hit 40 percent in most polls. Clinton has a small but consistent lead in Ohio. There’s a little more variety in the most recent polls in Florida, but the average is about the same, a small lead for Clinton. She’s got a larger and steady lead in Pennsylvania, and about the same size lead in Wisconsin.
In the Senate races, the news is a little better for Republicans. In Florida, Marco Rubio continues to enjoy a consistent lead over either Democratic challenger. In Ohio, Rob Portman’s consistent lead over former governor Ted Strickland is one of the cycle’s most pleasant surprises for the GOP. Maybe it helps when your opponent is a classless ninny:
Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democratic Senate candidate, has apologized for cheering the timing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death.
“My friends,” the former governor said Monday at an Ohio AFL-CIO event in the Cleveland area, “a lot of average citizens out there don’t understand the importance of that court.
“I mean, the death of Scalia saved labor from a terrible decision,” Strickland continued, as his audience clapped and laughed. “And I don’t wish anyone ill, but it happened at a good time, because once that decision had been made it would have been tough to reverse it.”
Portman seems to be immune from Trump’s troubles in his state, but sadly for the GOP, in Pennsylvania Pat Toomey doesn’t seem to be able to keep his head above water. He’s narrowly trailed the last four polls.
We’re moving Pennsylvania from Leans Democratic to Likely Democratic in the presidential race, which is where we had it as of a couple of months ago. This doesn’t change our overall total of 347 electoral votes for Clinton and 191 for Trump — precisely where our map has been since we unveiled it March 31… We now have 269 electoral votes — just one short of the magic number of 270 — rated as Likely or Safe Democratic.
Trump is in Florida today and Pennsylvania tomorrow, and Pence is in Wisconsin. But there are some unnerving indicators that the Trump campaign is still thinking of spending time and resources in one of those deep blue states:
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is beefing up its Connecticut presence with the hiring of a new state director and plans for a rally.
Ben Proto, Trump’s new state director, declined comment. An email to the campaign’s national press office was not returned.
J.R. Romano, executive director of the Connecticut Republican Party, said the Trump campaign is seeking a venue for a rally, possibly this weekend, but nothing has been finalized.
“There is a willingness for Donald Trump to come back to Connecticut,” Romano said. “It means that Connecticut’s in play. The Democrats in this state may not want to see it but it’s true.”
You can’t help a man who doesn’t want to help himself, and you can’t help a campaign that doesn’t want to help itself.