2016 US Elections - Exlusive discussion thread

BAK

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Feb 11, 2007
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Post-convention poll: Clinton retakes lead over Trump

Washington (CNN)Hillary Clinton emerges from her party's convention in Philadelphia with a restored lead over Donald Trump, having earned a 7-point convention bounce, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll.

In a two-way head-to-head matchup, Clinton tops Trump 52% to 43%, and in a four-way matchup including third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, Clinton leads 45% to 37% with Johnson at 9% and Stein at 5%.

Besides improving her standing against Trump, Clinton's convention appears to have boosted the share of Americans who think her policies will move the country in the right direction (from 43% before either convention to 48% now), while Trump's right direction number held roughly steady following the back-to-back political gatherings in Cleveland and Philadelphia.
Further, a majority of Clinton's backers now say their vote is more to show support for her than to oppose Trump, a sharp shift since early May. Back then, 48% said their vote was one of support for the former secretary of state, 58% say so now. While Trump also improved his numbers on that metric, his voters are more evenly divided, with 47% saying they're backing him to show support and 50% saying it's more to oppose Clinton.

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More of Clinton's backers also say they are certain to support her come November: 44% of registered voters are Clinton supporters who say their mind is made up, while 36% say they are solidly behind Trump. Only about 16% of voters say their minds could change in the 99 days left between now and Election Day.
Clinton's convention appears to have helped her reverse the damage done to perceptions of her honesty during the GOP convention, but she did not improve those numbers compared with where they stood before either convention. Overall, 34% say they consider Clinton honest and trustworthy, up from 30% after the GOP convention but exactly where that figure was in a poll conducted before either convention happened.
Clinton made more progress on several other measures, however, with 50% now saying she's in touch with the problems of ordinary Americans, and 48% that she will unite the country and not divide it. She gained three points -- a change inside the margin of sampling error for this poll -- compared with a poll conducted before the Republican convention on having the right experience, running for the good of the country rather than personal gain and as someone you would be proud to have as president.
On each of those measures, Clinton fares better than Trump, except when voters are asked about their honesty. Thirty-five percent say they see Trump as honest and trustworthy, just about even with the former secretary of state.

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On the rest of the attributes tested, the Democratic convention appears to have wiped out the significant gains Trump made on several of these measures, including being seen as in-touch with ordinary Americans, someone you'd be proud to have as president, running for the good of the country rather than personal gain and uniting the country rather than dividing it.
Nearly half of registered voters say what they saw or read of the Democratic convention left them feeling more likely to vote Clinton vs. 39% who said it turned them off from supporting her. Trump's convention merited a slight negative tilt on this question, according to a CNN/ORC Poll released last week, with 42% saying they would be more apt to back him vs. 44% less likely.
The 49% saying the DNC made them feel more apt to vote for Clinton is the fourth highest in CNN/ORC and Gallup polling, dating back to the 1984 Democratic convention. It's behind the 60% who said they were more apt to back Bill Clinton after the 1992 Democratic convention, 56% more likely to back Michael Dukakis after his 1988 convention and 51% who said they would be more likely to vote for Barack Obama after the '08 Democratic convention.

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Clinton's acceptance speech merited mixed reviews, with 44% calling it excellent or good, 20% just OK and 19% poor or terrible. Last week, a CNN/ORC survey found 40% calling Trump's speech excellent or good. Clinton's speech ranks well behind other recent Democratic acceptance speeches, 64% called Obama's '08 address excellent or good, and 52% each called John Kerry's 2004 speech and Al Gore's 2000 speech excellent or good.
In the new poll, there is a wide gender gap in reviews of Clinton's acceptance speech, with 50% of women calling Clinton's speech excellent or good compared with 37% of men. There was no gender gap in perceptions of Trump's speech. This gap isn't merely a partisan divide, it exists within each party as well, and most notably at the extremes. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, 42% of women called her speech excellent vs. just 25% of men. And among Republican and Republican-leaning men, 28% called Clinton's speech terrible, vs. just 18% of Republican and Republican-leaning women.
On the convention's tone, 49% said the Democrats spent too much time criticizing the Republicans, well below the 58% who said the GOP convention was too critical.
Clinton's convention, despite regular interruption from dissatisfied Bernie Sanders delegates inside the convention hall, also appears to have bolstered Democratic unity overall and strengthened her position among Sanders' supporters. Among Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party, 84% now feel the party will be united by November, up from 75% before either convention. Those who say they would rather have seen the party nominate Sanders now split 69% for Clinton, 13% for Stein, 10% for Johnson and just 3% say they'll back Trump. That's a 5-point improvement for Clinton (inside the margin of sampling error for this subgroup), an 8-point dropoff in the share who say they'd back Trump and a 7-point increase in support for Jill Stein.

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Republican Party unity, meanwhile, has faded some compared with a survey immediately after their convention. While 73% said they thought the GOP would unite by November in a post-GOP convention poll, just 66% say the same now.
Both conventions featured their candidate's family members prominently, but Americans aren't so sure they should have that much of a role in any administration. Two-thirds (66%) said Trump's children should not have a role on policy matters if Trump wins the election, and 57% said Bill and Chelsea Clinton should not be working on policy matters should Hillary Clinton win the presidency.
Clinton's favorability rating has rebounded from the small hit it took following Trump's convention (her favorability among registered voters dipped slightly from 43% before the Republican convention to 41% after and now stands at 43% again), but both shifts were small enough to be within the margin of sampling error. Trump's rating among registered voters did take a hit, from a 39% favorable and 59% unfavorable reading before either convention to a 35% favorable to 61% unfavorable read now.
Tim Kaine's favorability rating among registered voters rose from 31% before the Democratic convention to 39% after. That's a bit smaller than Mike Pence's increase after the Republican convention (his favorability rose from 26% before the GOP convention to 39% after), but those gains have faded some as just 29% of registered voters say they have a favorable opinion of Pence now.
The CNN/ORC Poll was conducted by telephone July 29-31 among a random national sample of 1,003 adults, including 894 registered voters. Results for the sample of registered voters have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
 
First on CNN: Ex-top Christie aide backs Clinton over Trump

(CNN)
Longtime Chris Christie aide Maria Comella says she plans to vote for Hillary Clinton -- saying that after Donald Trump's nomination, Republicans are "at a moment where silence isn't an option."
Comella is breaking from the governor she helped elevate into the national political limelight. Her decision, announced in an email interview with CNN's Jamie Gangel, comes the day after a top Jeb Bush aide said she was leaving the Republican Party.

Comella blasted Trump over his attack on the Muslim parents of an American soldier killed in combat, calling it emblematic of the rhetoric that has led her to reject her own party's nominee.
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"Donald Trump has been a demagogue this whole time, preying on people's anxieties with loose information and salacious rhetoric, drumming up fear and hatred of the 'other,'" Comella said.

"Instead of trying anything remotely like unifying the country, we have a nominee who would rather pick fights because he views it as positive news coverage," she said. "It may make him media savvy, but it doesn't make him qualified or ready to be president."

Comella's decision is a dramatic departure from her former boss, whose image she helped shape on the national stage as one of his closest advisers and strategists while a long-serving top aide in Trenton, New Jersey.
Christie was among the first failed 2016 GOP candidates to endorse Trump, appearing alongside the Republican nominee at events and even lobbying to become his running mate.

But Comella -- like longtime Jeb Bush adviser Sally Bradshaw, who told CNN on Monday that she's left the GOP over Trump's nomination -- said party members can't stay silent amid Trump's inflammatory rhetoric.
"Instead of speaking out against instances of bigotry, racism and inflammatory rhetoric whether it's been against women, immigrants or Muslims, we made a calculus that it was better to say nothing at all in the interest of politics and winning elections. For me, if our party has a future, we have to change that trajectory and lead by example," she said.
Comella, like two other Christie communications aides, didn't return to Christie's office in New Jersey after his presidential campaign ended. The Republican governor is now without most of the advisers who guided him to two victories in the Democratic-leaning state.

The 35-year-old Comella has since launched her own consulting company.
Here's what she told CNN in a six-question email interview:
Why are you coming out against Donald Trump?
"As someone who has worked to further the Republican Party's principles for the last 15 years I believe that we are at a moment where silence isn't an option. We are here today in part because as a party in the past we have remained silent when things have made us uncomfortable. Instead of speaking out against instances of bigotry, racism and inflammatory rhetoric whether it's been against women, immigrants or Muslims, we made a calculus that it was better to say nothing at all in the interest of politics and winning elections. For me, if our party has a future, we have to change that trajectory and lead by example.

"We have to stop thinking that winning at any cost is more important than governing principles. It should be the job of the Republican Party's nominee to set a tone worthy of being the leader of the free world and not give into our worst instincts. I don't care if it's good politics or not."

Why now? Was there a tipping point?
"I've been contemplating whether to say anything publicly for awhile. When you are used to being behind the scenes and speaking for someone else it doesn't come naturally. For me, I think that it's a culmination of watching Donald Trump purposely play to our worst instincts and fanning those flames. We can't survive as a party if we don't try to elevate the conversation and lead. If those of us who believe that Donald Trump shouldn't be President don't say anything, we are just part of the same problem."

Who will you vote for and why?
"I'm voting for Hillary Clinton in November and I'm voting for her because I don't believe it's enough to say you aren't for Donald Trump. My mom and dad were Republicans, but they didn't always vote Republican. There are times when principle trumps (no pun intended) party and we have to be okay with acknowledging that.
"I can certainly complain that the choices aren't great and I wish there were better options. But there aren't. So I can either exist in the real world and make a decision based on my actual choices or pretend I am in a fantasy. I chose the real world and I would encourage other Republicans to do the same."

How did you react to Trump's recent comments about the parents of the Muslim-American soldier who spoke at the Democratic convention?
"I wish I could say I'm shocked, but I'm not. Donald Trump has been a demagogue this whole time, preying on people's anxieties with loose information and salacious rhetoric, drumming up fear and hatred of the 'other.' Instead of trying anything remotely like unifying the country, we have a nominee who would rather pick fights because he views it as positive news coverage. It may make him media savvy, but it doesn't make him qualified or ready to be president.
"The President of the United States is charged with making some of the toughest decisions any human being should have to confront, including sending men and women to war and potentially death. We can't have a President who doesn't understand the very human ramifications of those decisions and is unable to show humility and empathy in the face of grieving parents."

Unlike Sally Bradshaw, who is a longtime adviser to Jeb Bush who has also said he won't vote for Trump, your former boss, Gov. Chris Christie, has not only endorsed Donald Trump, but consistently defended Trump and lobbied to be his vice president. How do you think he will feel about your decision?
"I believe Chris Christie was the best person to be the nominee and unfortunately, that didn't happen. My decision is my own and I know from working with the Governor that he has the utmost respect for people expressing their own opinions."

How long have you been a Republican and what would you say to other Republicans about why you are doing this?
"I've been a Republican since I grew up listening to my parents talk politics at the kitchen table. Two people who came from working class families, never went to college and managed to send their two daughters to college as firsts in both families. They believed in a Republican Party that preaches that in this country there is opportunity for you no matter where you come from, who your parents are or what you grew up with. They believed in working hard, free trade, a government that delivers basic services well and is there when hard work alone isn't going to cut it. They didn't care what goes on inside the four walls of your home. Today, we have a nominee who doesn't represent any of those basic principles and he is just a culmination of our misdirection over the last few decades."
 
I am starting to get convinced that Donald Trump is a little unhinged.

And by November 8th he'll have no one voting for him except his family.

I have never seen anyone in American politics do such a bang-up job in alienating just about everybody more than Trump has.

Hillary is a severely flawed candidate herself and she didn't do herself any favor with the interview she did with Chris Wallace over the weekend.

Definitely she is the lesser of two evils if the alternative is Donald Trump.

Many folks, I believe, will not necessarily be voting for Hillary but they damn sure will be voting against Trump.
 
Do you think there is a possibility for GOP to dump him before the end of this month?

I am starting to get convinced that Donald Trump is a little unhinged.

And by November 8th he'll have no one voting for him except his family.

I have never seen anyone in American politics do such a bang-up job in alienating just about everybody more than Trump has.

Hillary is a severely flawed candidate herself and she didn't do herself any favor with the interview she did with Chris Wallace over the weekend.

Definitely she is the lesser of two evils if the alternative is Donald Trump.

Many folks, I believe, will not necessarily be voting for Hillary but they damn sure will be voting against Trump.
 
Do you think there is a possibility for GOP to dump him before the end of this month?

I don't think they will officially or publicly dump him because in doing that they will be going against the will of the people who voted for him.

Such action would run counter to every democratic principle their party stands for.

Privately, I believe, many of the GOPers will either sit it [the election] out or vote for the Libertarian candidate. I heard G.H. W. Bush and G.W. Bush will sit out this election.

I don't think Jeb will cast the ballot for him either. Definitely not Mitt Romney.

My feeling is that many Republicans are resigned to the fact that Hillary will win this election.
 
Another four years out of the WH, and there is a possibility for Democrats to have the majority in the Senate and Congress.

I don't think they will officially or publicly dump him because in doing that they will be going against the will of the people who voted for him.

Such action would run counter to every democratic principle their party stands for.

Privately, I believe, many of the GOPers will either sit it [the election] out or vote for the Libertarian candidate. I heard G.H. W. Bush and G.W. Bush will sit out this election.

I don't think Jeb will cast the ballot for him either. Definitely not Mitt Romney.

My feeling is that many Republicans are resigned to the fact that Hillary will win this election.
 
Another four years out of the WH, and there is a possibility for Democrats to have the majority in the Senate and Congress.

Yup..they [GOP] have blown this chance.

Hillary in 2016 is not as strong as she was in 2008.

And after 8 years of a Democrat in the White House, 2016 was the supposed to be the GOP's year.

But with a standard-bearer like Trump, they might as well kiss the White House goodbye for 4 more years.

You tell me....ideology aside, did you have any doubts that John McCain or Mitt Romney were fit to be president?
 
Kasich and Christie were very formidable candidates but their languages were not colourful enough to attract more votes.

Yup..they [GOP] have blown this chance.

Hillary in 2016 is not as strong as she was in 2008.

And after 8 years of a Democrat in the White House, 2016 was the supposed to be the GOP's year.

But with a standard-bearer like Trump, they might as well kiss the White House goodbye for 4 more years.

You tell me....ideology aside, did you have any doubts that John McCain or Mitt Romney were fit to be president?
 
Meg Whitman, a Hewlett Packard executive and Republican fund-raiser, said that she would support Hillary Clinton for president and give a “substantial” contribution to her campaign in order to stop Donald J. Trump, whom she berated as a threat to American democracy.
 
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Reactions: BAK
To Americans this is not the election they used to have. In fact is a gambling sort of election they are to make a choice without options.
They either elect a charlatan to white house or elect a house wife to white house. Let us wait and see how smart they are in the game of gambling
I don't think they will officially or publicly dump him because in doing that they will be going against the will of the people who voted for him.

Such action would run counter to every democratic principle their party stands for.

Privately, I believe, many of the GOPers will either sit it [the election] out or vote for the Libertarian candidate. I heard G.H. W. Bush and G.W. Bush will sit out this election.

I don't think Jeb will cast the ballot for him either. Definitely not Mitt Romney.

My feeling is that many Republicans are resigned to the fact that Hillary will win this election.
 
Don't put your money on Trump, you will lose!. Hillary would be a much better President than Trump!.
Am not supporting either of the two because there is no options to choose.
Whoever they elect the capacity to handle the current international politics is doubtful
 
Frustration raises in Trump Camp

(CNN)
Donald Trump aides and people close to his campaign are increasingly frustrated by his insistence on waging various fights that steer him off message.
Sources close to the campaign are describing a series of missteps that are trailing the GOP presidential nominee, most prominently his now multi-day battle against Khizr Khan, the Muslim father of a killed US soldier. Trump has spent the days since the Democratic convention litigating whether their son is a hero, and on Tuesday only moved onto an equally unhelpful news cycle: whether he supports House Speaker Paul Ryan, and the 2008 presidential nominee, John McCain, in their primaries.

A knowledgeable Republican source told CNN that some of Trump's campaign staff -- even campaign manager Paul Manafort -- "feel like they are wasting their time," given Trump's recent comments. And two sources close to the Trump campaign said privately they wished Trump would apologize to the Gold Star family, even though the Khans attacked Trump from the stage at the Democratic National Convention last month.
One of those sources, who has spoken on Trump's behalf, said Trump should go further and apologize to "all military families."
Jason Miller, a Trump spokesman, disputed any signs of frustration within the campaign.

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"The idea that Paul Manafort is mailing it in is completely erroneous. Our campaign just finished up our strongest month of fundraising to date, we're adding talented and experienced staffers on a daily basis and Mr. Trump's turning out bigger, more enthusiastic crowds than Hillary Clinton ever could," he said in a statement.
Yet a source close to the campaign stressed that despite Miller's statement, there are indeed tensions behind the scenes.
Another source close to the campaign expressed bewilderment over Trump's fight with Ryan, saying Trump should focus on issues that actually matter to people.

"I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country," Trump told The Washington Post on Tuesday. "We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I'm just not quite there yet. I'm not quite there yet."
 
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