It took all of two weeks for Donald Trump's support to collapse. In mid-to-late July he began to pull ahead nationally. The last three major national polls have shown him trailing Hillary Clinton by 9, 10 and 15 points.
The RealClearPolitics polling average has Trump 6.8 percentage points behind Clinton nationally. In the Huffington Post average, it's 7.5 points. Many supporters are wondering went wrong after he beat 16 other Republicans in the primaries, suspecting that perhaps the anti-Trump media has skewed the polls now that he is up against Clinton.
But we're not in the primaries anymore and here a few reasons what worked for Trump then isn't producing the same success now.
1. In Republican primaries, Trump was a big fish in a small pond. When the New York businessman and reality TV star was first considering a presidential bid, he was advised he could not run on earned media alone. He said he could and he bet correctly — in the primaries, at least.
Trump faced an uphill battle convincing Republican voters to like him. But in a field of 17, he was easily able to flood the zone and suck up media oxygen that might have otherwise gone to other candidates. When he acted up in debates, he made the whole process look silly and shallow, not just himself.
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05.08.2024