A new Batttleground Tracker poll finds Republican showman billionaire Donald Trump and Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are leading in Michigan with only a few days to go before the voting:
The poll provides a look at why the so-called establishment voices attempting to slow Trump’s momentum haven’t succeeded, at least not so far. By four to one, Michigan Republicans say they’re less likely to vote for a candidate with establishment backing, not more so.
Among those not backing Trump, there is no consensus on what the party should do if Trump keeps winning. Forty-three percent would prefer the party do all it can to keep Trump from the nomination, but 37 percent feel the party should rally behind Trump and look to win with him in November.
But Trump is overwhelmingly seen as the candidate who’d favor “regular people” over big donors — seven in ten say so — while the other candidates get more mixed views on this measure.
Clearly, his brash, being so-called “politically incorrect” (read that using bigot dog whistles or a barely usable dog whistle) appeals to many GOP voters, and they’re accepting the branding he is selling:
Trump holds leads over other candidates on ability to win in November, to bring change, and “get things done,” but also the candidate whose campaign is most focused on personal attacks. Trump and Kasich are virtually tied on which candidate best understands the middle class. Meanwhile, one-third of voters feel Cruz is too conservative, and four in ten feel Trump is not conservative enough.
Kasich is the candidate most seen as honest and trustworthy (74 percent say so), while the other candidates are more mixed in this regard. Trump is at 48 percent and Cruz at 53 percent. Self-reported views of Kasich are also on the rise, as by more than two to one voters say their view of him is improving of late.
The Democratic race?
Hillary Clinton holds a comfortable double-digit lead over Bernie Sanders, helped — as in many Super Tuesday states last week — by strong support from African American voters.
Clinton’s path to a Michigan lead in the poll looks much the same as her path in previous states: she leads on being seen as qualified and on being commander-in-chief, but Sanders is seen by more as honest. He is also seen by more as principled, and better on fixing income inequality.
And, of course, as I always note a)partisans who are on the losing side of the polls will starting insisting the methodology is bad, b)they’ll say the poll is wrong. But this is what this polls says — and one poll doesn’t a trend make — although in both races now it’s clearing trending to where the GOP is likely to nominate Trump and the Dems will nominate Hillary.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.