Where Does Donald Trump Stand Within the Republican Party and With America?

By John A. Smith, Editor/Founder August 8, 2016

Donald Trump Drops In Polls

Washington Post/ABC News poll August 1 through August 4, 2016

Trump Doesn't Listen To Anyone - Except Maybe The Polls

     After two weeks of Republican Presidential Nominee Donald J. Trump repeatedly tweeting attacks on his favorite social media, Twitter, attacking the Gold Star Khan family, not initially endorsing Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and popular New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte. In announcing he wasn't endorsing Ryan last week Trump said “I’m just not quite there yet,” using the exact words Ryan used about him after the Indiana primary in May when asked if he would support Trump. The candidate also went to New Hampshire last week and claimed he is doing better than fellow Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte in statewide polls. He got a "Pants On Fire" from PolitiFact for that one.  Read More: Read More: Donald Trump's Pants on Fire claim about doing better than Kelly Ayotte in N.H. polls. Many people started to question whether the presidential nominee needed a "candidate intervention," or maybe they are the one's who need an intervention. Read More: Someone Needs an Intervention Here, and It’s Not Donald Trump/Slate.com. He wasn't listening to anyone and his running mate Governor Mike Pence (R-IN) and Campaign Manager Paul Manafort found themselves crazy with trying to "spin" all the nuttiness coming out of their candidates mouth and on his Twitter account. 

     But later, the National and State polls showed Trump in a free-fall and he reversed himself. On Friday, August 5th, at a campaign rally in Green Bay, WI,  he unenthusiastic-ally endorsed them all. Read More: Trump Endorses Paul Ryan, John McCain and Kelly Ayotte/ABC News  By then national polls showed a match up between Trump and Clinton, if the Presidential election were held today, to be 3-8 points in Clinton's favor. By Saturday a Washington Post/ABC News Poll finds Clinton has widened lead ahead of Trump to 8 points . But perhaps the worst results were coming in the battleground states. 

Battleground State Polls:

Virginia

     "The battleground state of Virginia looks a little less like a battleground today, as Hillary Clinton has opened up a lead there of 49 percent to 37 percent, echoing some of the movement seen in national polls this week."  This is of course Hillary's running mate junior U.S. Senator Tim Kaine's home state.  

Arizona

     "On the other side of the country in Arizona, Trump leads 44 percent to 42 percent, only two points in a state Republicans typically win without too much trouble. Even if this is as close as Arizona ever gets (just 15 percent of those not voting for Clinton would still consider her) it nonetheless tells the story of a potentially shifting map, forcing Trump to defend usually-red territory, in part because of such strong Hispanic support behind Clinton. In Arizona, 80 percent of Hispanic voters feel they're more motivated to vote this year than previous years, and don't believe Donald Trump treats all people fairly."

Nevada

    " In Nevada, Clinton leads, 43 percent to 41 percent, also bolstered by support from Hispanic voters and younger voters, but facing more difficulty with older, white voters. In Nevada, as elsewhere, the commander-in-chief measure nets Clinton a large advantage, even as she has lower numbers on measures such as bringing change. And the selection of Tim Kaine as vice president may have helped Clinton in Virginia, too, as voters are more likely to say it makes them more likely to vote for the ticket than to vote against it." 

NOTE: Comments on Virginia, Arizona, and Nevada are excerpts from a post on CBS.com

By Anthony Salvanto CBS News August 7, 2016, 10:30 AM:  Read More: Poll: Clinton opens big gap in battleground state of Virginia.

 New Hampshire

     According to a CNN Politics "A new poll of New Hampshire shows Clinton with a commanding 15-point lead over Donald Trump, finding Granite State Democrats coalescing around their nominee after their convention while state Republicans remain resistant to Trump.

Clinton leads Trump 47% to 32% among likely New Hampshire voters, according to the poll from WBUR, with third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein included. Matched up one-on-one, Clinton's lead grows to 17 points, 51% to 34%."

     Although it should be noted that the poll used here doesn't take into account Hillary went on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace on July 31, 2016  Read More: Clinton fact-checked on 'truthful' claim in email scandal and said FBI Director James Comey confirmed her statements on her email scandal were “truthful” – with one prominent fact-checker giving the claim four “Pinocchios.” 

     "Hillary Clinton has admitted that she may have “short-circuited” her answers to media questions about the way she handled classified emails. The former secretary of state insisted on Friday that she did not misrepresent FBI director James Comey’s findings on the issue that continues to dog her presidential campaign." Read More: Clinton says she may have 'short-circuited' statements about email.

Pennsylvania

     "In Pennsylvania -- a Democratic-leaning Rust Belt state that Trump has vowed to put in play for the GOP this election -- another poll released Thursday showed Clinton leading Trump by double digits. Clinton leads Trump 49% to 38% among likely Pennsylvania voters, according to the Franklin and Marshall College poll. Her lead swells to 13 points, 47% to 34%, with Johnson and Stein included." Read More: Battleground polls: Clinton tops Trump post-convention/CNN Politics

Michigan

"Another battleground poll released Thursday -- Michigan -- also found Clinton holding a significant lead over Trump. 

 

Clinton is ahead of Trump by 9 points, 41% to 32%, among likely Michigan voters, according to a Detroit news/WDIV-TV poll. Clinton's lead is smaller, 6 points, without third-party candidates included.

 

Pollster Richard Czuba told the Detroit News the survey found a "shocking" Clinton lead in typically reliable Republican areas in west and southwest Michigan, where she carries leads of 5-6 points. And according to the poll, 30% of self-identifying Michigan Republicans are not backing Trump.

Trump's struggles in the state's conservative strongholds are attributable in part to Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson. The poll found that in those west and southwest regions of Michigan, critical for flipping Michigan red, Johnson is drawing 10% and 16% support, respectively.

The poll also found a majority of Michigan voters -- 61% -- say Trump is "ill-prepared to be commander in chief."

 

The Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll was conducted from July 29 through August 1, surveying 600 likely Michigan voters. It has a margin of error of +/- 4 points."  Read More: Battleground polls: Clinton tops Trump post-convention/CNN Politics

 

 

Coming Soon: Can, and will Hillary stop lying long enough to get her "Untrustworthy" numbers down?