Bernie Is Showing The Donald Where To Beat Hillary
By Paul Sperry
The New York Post
May 15, 2016
Hillary Clinton shouldn’t be so quick to write off her recent string of Rust Belt losses to Bernie Sanders. While they won’t spell an upset in the Democratic primary, they do portend similar losses in the general election to Donald Trump, who has a wide lead over her on the issue of handling jobs and the economy.
Exit polls in West Virginia and Indiana show Democratic voters see jobs and the economy as the top issues facing the country, and they think global trade is hurting American workers. Growing anxiety over the economy, which is softening in President Obama’s final year, propelled Sanders over Clinton in these and other states — and it’s an issue perfectly tailored for Trump’s blue-collar billionaire populism.
A whopping nine in 10 voters in the West Virginia primary said they’re worried about the economy, and 52 percent of them went for Sanders. Only 34 percent favored Clinton on that issue. More than half say trade with other countries costs US jobs, and 54 percent of them voted for Sanders.
Likewise, 84 percent of those who voted in Indiana’s Democratic primary said they’re worried about the direction of the economy. Most of them favored Sanders over Clinton (57 percent to 43 percent). Nearly half say trade robs US workers of jobs, and 54 percent of them voted for Sanders.
Exit polling found similar results in Sanders’ Michigan and Wisconsin upsets. And though Clinton won Pennsylvania, she lost 47 percent to 52 percent to Sanders among Keystone State voters who say they’re “very worried about the direction of the economy over the next few years.”
Pennsylvania is a must-win for Clinton in the general. Democrats held it in the last two elections. But Trump is increasingly popular there. In a new Quinnipiac poll, Pennsylvania voters by 51 percent to 42 percent said that Trump would do a better job than Clinton handling the economy. In a head-to-head match-up overall, the two virtually tied.
In another critical Rust Belt state — Ohio — Trump edges Clinton 43 percent to 39 percent, thanks to Trump crushing Clinton on jobs and the economy (52 percent to 40 percent). A win there would be pivotal for Republicans, who lost Ohio in 2008 and 2012.
To hold any lead, however, Trump would have to poach a large share of Sanders voters. Is that possible? At least one poll says yes. Nearly half the voters in the West Virginia Democratic primary who backed Sanders say they would vote for Trump in November, CBS News found. Only 23 percent say they’d support Clinton.
Of course, the poll reflects anger at Clinton over her recent vow to “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” Clinton tried to walk it back, even apologizing directly to coal families, but they aren’t forgiving her.
And they won’t forget come November. Even some local Democratic officials have declared she’s “not welcome in our town.” Trump, on the other hand, is wildly popular in Coal Country, as well as the Rust Belt.
If Pennsylvania Democrats join West Virginia in turning on Clinton, it could be all over for Democrats. It’s not unlikely: The whole Appalachian region — which covers not only West Virginia but portions of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina — has been trending away from Democrats on the local level, as liberals escalate their eco-wars on coal and fracking.
Ironically, Clinton risks losing the blue-collar voters who made up the base of her supporters in 2008 — the same voters Obama maligned as uneducated rubes who bitterly “cling” to their guns and Bibles.
Now they’re Trump voters. And they don’t like the economic policies or record Clinton’s inheriting from Obama. The more she defends them, with the same air of indifference as Obama, the more vulnerable she looks.
Almost 25 years ago, a political upstart named Bill Clinton beat President George H.W. Bush by focusing on jobs and the economy, reciting like a mantra, “It’s the economy, stupid!” Trump may use that same playbook to defeat Bill’s wife.
May 15, 2016
Hillary Clinton shouldn’t be so quick to write off her recent string of Rust Belt losses to Bernie Sanders. While they won’t spell an upset in the Democratic primary, they do portend similar losses in the general election to Donald Trump, who has a wide lead over her on the issue of handling jobs and the economy.
Exit polls in West Virginia and Indiana show Democratic voters see jobs and the economy as the top issues facing the country, and they think global trade is hurting American workers. Growing anxiety over the economy, which is softening in President Obama’s final year, propelled Sanders over Clinton in these and other states — and it’s an issue perfectly tailored for Trump’s blue-collar billionaire populism.
A whopping nine in 10 voters in the West Virginia primary said they’re worried about the economy, and 52 percent of them went for Sanders. Only 34 percent favored Clinton on that issue. More than half say trade with other countries costs US jobs, and 54 percent of them voted for Sanders.
Likewise, 84 percent of those who voted in Indiana’s Democratic primary said they’re worried about the direction of the economy. Most of them favored Sanders over Clinton (57 percent to 43 percent). Nearly half say trade robs US workers of jobs, and 54 percent of them voted for Sanders.
Exit polling found similar results in Sanders’ Michigan and Wisconsin upsets. And though Clinton won Pennsylvania, she lost 47 percent to 52 percent to Sanders among Keystone State voters who say they’re “very worried about the direction of the economy over the next few years.”
Pennsylvania is a must-win for Clinton in the general. Democrats held it in the last two elections. But Trump is increasingly popular there. In a new Quinnipiac poll, Pennsylvania voters by 51 percent to 42 percent said that Trump would do a better job than Clinton handling the economy. In a head-to-head match-up overall, the two virtually tied.
In another critical Rust Belt state — Ohio — Trump edges Clinton 43 percent to 39 percent, thanks to Trump crushing Clinton on jobs and the economy (52 percent to 40 percent). A win there would be pivotal for Republicans, who lost Ohio in 2008 and 2012.
To hold any lead, however, Trump would have to poach a large share of Sanders voters. Is that possible? At least one poll says yes. Nearly half the voters in the West Virginia Democratic primary who backed Sanders say they would vote for Trump in November, CBS News found. Only 23 percent say they’d support Clinton.
Of course, the poll reflects anger at Clinton over her recent vow to “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” Clinton tried to walk it back, even apologizing directly to coal families, but they aren’t forgiving her.
And they won’t forget come November. Even some local Democratic officials have declared she’s “not welcome in our town.” Trump, on the other hand, is wildly popular in Coal Country, as well as the Rust Belt.
If Pennsylvania Democrats join West Virginia in turning on Clinton, it could be all over for Democrats. It’s not unlikely: The whole Appalachian region — which covers not only West Virginia but portions of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina — has been trending away from Democrats on the local level, as liberals escalate their eco-wars on coal and fracking.
Ironically, Clinton risks losing the blue-collar voters who made up the base of her supporters in 2008 — the same voters Obama maligned as uneducated rubes who bitterly “cling” to their guns and Bibles.
Now they’re Trump voters. And they don’t like the economic policies or record Clinton’s inheriting from Obama. The more she defends them, with the same air of indifference as Obama, the more vulnerable she looks.
Almost 25 years ago, a political upstart named Bill Clinton beat President George H.W. Bush by focusing on jobs and the economy, reciting like a mantra, “It’s the economy, stupid!” Trump may use that same playbook to defeat Bill’s wife.
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