It may be the dog days of summer, but some pundits are already nipping at November – and it’s not looking good for Donald Trump.
Although Hillary Clinton’s campaign has suffered a series of unforced errors lately – can you say “Seddique Mateen” and State Department/Clinton Foundation “pay for play”? – Team Career Kleptocrat is increasingly confident that it can defeat The Donaldus. And Donald Trump may be the engineer of his own demise at the polls.
Via The Hill:
Allies of the Democratic presidential nominee acknowledge they’ve had their share of missteps and unforced errors in recent days. Two controversies, in particular, could have been especially damaging against a more disciplined opponent.
First, the campaign allowed Seddique Mateen, the father of the Orlando gunman who killed 49 people in June, to be seated directly behind Clinton at a rally. Meanwhile, media reports have continued to raise questions about links between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, including whether there was special treatment for donors.
But those story lines have been relegated to the margins of media coverage, with Trump’s blunders dominating the spotlight.
“We’re winning because of what we’ve done, but we’re also really winning because of what he’s done,” said one Clinton surrogate, pointing to the controversies the Republican nominee has engaged in since July, including his feud with a Muslim military family.
Talk about unforced errors. Blame media bias is you want, but the needless kerfuffles dogging Trump are the type that most big leaguers can see coming a mile away and manage to avoid. Or at least kick damage control into overdrive.
Meanwhile, Shrillary leads in key battleground states like North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Colorado.
Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, said a major factor in Clinton’s recent successes is none other than Trump himself. Reeher observed, “Hillary Clinton’s strongest asset is Donald Trump, far and away.”
Translation: This is what happens when the GOP nominee is a narcissistic serial flip-flopper and faux “conservative” whose grasp of the Constitution and the process is as underwhelming as his newly minted “Republican” credentials.
Continues The Hill:
Remarkably, the Trump campaign managed to neutralize Mateen’s appearance at the Clinton rally by having disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) — who once sent suggestive messages to underage congressional pages — sit behind Trump at a rally on Wednesday night.
But Foley’s appearance paled in comparison to the media storm that erupted when Trump suggested Tuesday that “Second Amendment people” might be able to prevent Clinton from making judicial nominees.
The offhand remark was widely denounced, causing such a ruckus that the Secret Service was reportedly tasked with speaking to Trump about the comments.
Clinton has had “a good couple of weeks compared to her opponent,” Reeher said.
“You’re seeing the cumulative effects of some of his mistakes. He’s been stepping on landmines of his own creation.”
In another “duh moment,” some Clinton allies say a different GOP candidate would’ve meant a higher hill for Clinton to climb into November:
“I felt before the race really began that Jeb Bush, and to some extent Marco Rubio, would be the toughest opponent, and I do think if you swapped out either one of them today, it would be a very tight race,” said one longtime Clinton adviser. “That’s because either would certainly have consolidated more of the Republican Party behind them … and could have made inroads among both independents and some Latinos.”
The adviser cautioned that while the odds do favor a Clinton victory in November, there are several unknowns — the first being what happens in the debates.
Or the next series of inanities uttered by El Trumpo. You never know.
While White House prospects may be fading for the GOP, let’s keep our eyes on the real “brass ring” this November: Congress. Particularly the Senate. Yea, verily. If either New York carnival barker gains the presidency this fall, the Senate is about the only thing standing between a sharp lurch to the left or a sharper lurch to the left. Both pose significant threats to the Republic.
You may want to invest your resources accordingly.
H/T: The Hill