As we move closer to election day, with only 3 weeks until voters cast their votes, the two mainstream candidates have received historical negative numbers in polling, with many, including myself, asking the question: are you voting for your candidate, or are you voting against the opposition?
The historically high negative numbers for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton run not only along party lines but also exists among what are supposedly “party loyalists” in both the Democratic and Republican parties. The mistrust of each party’s candidate come from segments within both parties who feel that either their candidate is not, in the case of Mrs. Clinton “not sufficiently liberal enough” or in Mr. Trump’s case not a “real Republican or sufficiently Conservative” for some in the Republican party.
In the last polls that were released regarding unfavorable and favorable numbers, each candidate saw their numbers fall, with Secretary Clinton’s numbers falling dramatically since receiving her last boost following the Democratic convention over the summer, falling to 59% of the American public disapproving. If Mr. Trump was not her opponent, then Mrs. Clinton would have the highest numbers of any Presidential nominee in history. Only 35% support her.
Numerous scandals and missteps have plagued the Democratic nominee as issues such as an expanding list of deleted emails which have been discovered (even though she said only 33,000 have been deleted) along with making insulting statements toward her political opponents by saying that they are “a bunch of deplorable and are irredeemable.”
A prime example of Mrs. Clinton losing support in her own party includes three major groups: Women, Hispanics and Liberals. With women her support fell from 54% to 45%, with Hispanics 71% to 55% and Liberals, 76% to 63%. All three groups are key in the Democratic party and for Mrs. Clinton if she hopes to win the White House in three weeks.
In the case of Mr. Trump, there have also been numerous missteps and scandals that have been made by his campaign, and many of which were caused by the candidate’s own doing and own lack of self-discipline.
Some of the cases of missteps of the Trump campaign include him verbally attacking a disabled New York Times reporter, along with verbally attacking a judge for being Hispanic and accusing him of not being able to fairly conduct a trial involving Mr. Trump.
“Voters are more comfortable voting for people they like, so this is not good for either candidate” Republican pollster Daron Shaw said.
Other instances of scandal involving Mr. Trump include a new undercover video that was recently released with audio of Mr. Trump saying he could do whatever he wanted with women. The unfavorable ratings for the major party candidates we show here are almost unpresented, the only numbers that are comparably bad were for David Duke in 1992 and he was not the party’s nominee,” Mr. Shaw continued.
Among registered voters, 61% of Democrats have a favorable view of Mrs. Clinton, while less than half of Republicans, 43%, have a favorable view of Mr. Trump. The divide by each side’s party loyalist goes back to the earlier argument by some saying that their party’s candidate isn’t sufficiently liberal or sufficiently conservative. Or in the case of the independent voter, which candidate is considered more “trustworthy.”
Along with the numbers showing that Mrs. Clinton is better liked than the public, polls have also shown that her surrogates out on the campaign are also better liked than her Republican opponent.
On the Democratic side, the two major surrogates out on the trail for Mrs. Clinton, her husband Bill, has a 13% favorability (55% favorable, 42% unfavorable), while President Obama, who has been campaigning heavily for Mrs. Clinton, for he sees her as the best opportunity to have his legacy continued after he leaves office.
Ultimately, even though we have two historically bad candidates for the highest office in the land, it is our civic duty and our obligation to participate in voting, a practice which so many citizens (starting with our own Revolution in 1776) fought, risked their lives for and in many cases died for.
Links to Sources:
- Wall Street Journal Link: https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/08/31/poll-shows-clintons-unfavorable-rating-nearly-matching-trumps/
- Washington Post Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/31/a-record-number-of-americans-now-dislike-hillary-clinton/
- Fox News Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/08/04/fox-news-poll-clinton-and-trump-disliked-by-voters.html#
- Real Clear Politics Donald Trump Poll: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/trump_favorableunfavorable-5493.html
- Real Clear Politics, Hillary Clinton Favorable, Unfavorable: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/clinton_favorableunfavorable-1131.html
- Morning Consult Link: https://morningconsult.com/trump-clinton-unpopular/
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