www.nbcnews.com/…
A recent poll by NBC and WSJ shows that, in a head to head poll:
- Clinton leads Trump by only 3% (Less than the margin of error)
- Sanders leads Trump by 15%
But we all knew that already.
The news is that an unprecedented 47% of voters would consider a 3rd party candidate if their choice was Trump or Clinton.
Asked if they would consider a third-party candidate if Clinton and Trump were the major party nominees, 47 percent of registered voters say yes -- a higher percentage than those who said yes on a similar question in 2008 and 2012.
The reason is that Trump and Clinton are both toxic candidates.
Trump and Clinton are currently the two most unpopular likely presidential nominees in the history of the NBC/WSJ poll.
Thirty four percent of registered voters have a positive opinion of Clinton, versus 54 percent who have a negative opinion (-20) — a slight uptick from her minus-24 score last month.
Trump's rating is even worse than Clinton's: Twenty nine percent have a positive opinion of him, while 58 percent have a negative opinion (-29) — an improvement from his minus-41 score in April.
"This has never been matched, or even close to being matched," Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff, says of these negative ratings for Trump and Clinton.
In spite of people’s opinions of the candidates, the support for the candidates is still reliable among the party faithful.
Democrats are backing Clinton by an 83 percent-to-9 percent clip...
Republicans are now supporting Trump over Clinton by an 86 percent-to-6 percent margin…
And Independents are goggling Gary Johnson and Jill Stein.
Sanders remains very popular, even with Clinton supporters:
By contrast, Sanders is in positive territory. Forty-three percent have a positive view of the Vermont senator, versus 36 percent who have a negative view (+7). One difference Clinton and Sanders: Clinton's rating among Democratic voters supporting Sanders is 38 percent positive, 41 percent negative (-3); Sanders' rating among Clinton supporters is 54 percent positive, 23 percent negative (+31).
At this point, we can still look forward to six more months of fear, loathing, and sickness unto death. The opinions of the voters might change. But the polls have shown a clear trend over time.
- Clinton, for good reasons or bad reasons, remains very unpopular.
- Republicans, in spite of everything, will vote for Trump.
- A great mass of voters want a third option.
The reasonable choice is to make Sanders and Warren the candidates of the Democratic Party. It is the less risky strategy. Of course, the party leadership and Democratic voters in many states want Clinton as the standard bearer.
All I can do is quote Oliver Cromwell. When he was trying to negotiate a settlement with the Scots, he begged them to consider a solution short of catastrophic war:
I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken.