Donald Trump continues to climb in Republican polls, to dismay of party establishment

[Rob L 3,811]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/11742310/Donald-Trump-continues-to-climb-in-Republican-polls-to-dismay-of-party-establishment.html

Donald Trump continues to climb in Republican polls, to dismay of party establishment New poll shows the billionaire's favourability up to 60 per cent among Republicans, from 40 per cent last month

Donald Trump announces his presidential bid, today in New York Photo: Rex

By Peter Foster, Washington

8:54PM BST 15 Jul 2015

2 Comments

Donald Trump continued to rattle the panelled halls of the Republican Party establishment as new polls showed his popularity climbing among grassroots conservative voters.

A month after launching his campaign with a racially-charged speech asserting that many Mexican illegal immigrants were “rapists”, an ABC/Washington Post survey found that 60 per cent of Republicans now have a favourable view of the billionaire property mogul, up 20 per cent from last month.

The findings came a day after a USA Today poll put Mr Trump at the head of the crowded field of potential Republican presidential candidates with 17 per cent support – leading his nearest rival, Jeb Bush, by 3 per cent.

The Republican Party leadership fears that Mr Trump’s brash style and strong rhetoric will alienate ordinary voters, and particularly Hispanics – a key demographic if Republicans wish to reclaim the White House in 2016.

Mr Trump remains undeterred, however, continuing to make his case about the perils of illegal immigration and slamming most of the rest of his colleagues as either too weak or incompetent to, as his campaign slogan demands, “Make America Great Again”.

This week he has continued to make negative headlines, posting a picture of a campaign poster on Twitter that inadvertently used a photograph of Nazi soldiers walking in front of the White House – before rapidly deleting it.

Despite being dropped by a number of his commercial partners, Mr Trump has batted away criticism, firing off a sardonic letter to the Women’s British Open golf tournament after organisers briefed they would have moved the tournament from Trump-owned Turnberry course in Scotland - had there been time.

And the Miss USA beauty pageant which became synonymous with Mr Trump’s brand of glitz and kitsch attracted less than a million viewers this week – compared to 5.6 million in 2014 – after it was dropped by the broadcaster NBC and screened on the little-known Reelz channel.

• Why Donald Trump is wrong about Mexican immigrants

Despite his rise among the Republican Party faithful, Mr Trump is viewed negatively by the American public at large, with more than 60 per cent having an unfavourable view, compared with 47 per cent for Mr Bush.

Analysts attribute the strong Trump showing to anger and frustration among Republican grassroots who are determined not to elect another – as they would see it – wishy-washy establishment candidate in the mould of Mitt Romney, the 2012 nominee.

“Trump is clearly hurting Republican hopes of winning a larger share of the Hispanic vote,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Centre for Politics, adding that Trump had no chance of winning the nomination.

“Much of the conservative base is angry at the party leadership, and believes they are once again steering the nomination to a squish - Jeb Bush being the most obvious example. Backing Trump is their way of sending the message.”

Jeffrey Lord, a former Reagan aide and Republican party historian, is among those defending Mr Trump, arguing that his candidacy reflects the need for the party to elect a true-blood conservative in order to win in 2016

“This is not just about Trump, it’s about an enormous feeling among the grassroots that the Party leadership has wimped out on so many issues that they care about – whether immigration, defunding Obamacare or tackling the debt,” he said.

Mr Trump now looks sure to feature in the first televised debate in Cleveland, Ohio on August 6 where he will likely make a splash, but some Republican strategists caution that the Trump story will prove fleeting and unimportant in final analysis.

Whit Ayres, the veteran Republican pollster who is working for Marco Rubio, the Florida senator, in the 2016 campaign, said Republican voters would ultimately plump for a candidate with a realistic shot at beating Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democrat nominee.

“The Republican party will ultimately be defined by its ultimate nominee, not by others who contested the nomination and lost,” said Mr Ayres.

His book “2016 and Beyond” advocated a new tone for Republicans in light of major social changes in the US on hot-button issues like immigration, gay rights and national security.

He added that while the cable news channels were devouring the approaching Republican dogfight, most general election voters were not engaged, predicting that in the end Republicans would pick a viable and credible candidate.

“The only people paying attention right now are the party activists; this will be ancient history come the General Election,” he added. “I think voters, in aggregate, are pretty smart. They know what needs to happen to be competitive against Hillary Clinton in 2016.”

[GandD 5,966]

That's so awesome.

[Rob L 3,811]

New conspiracy theory: The Clintons have some how convinced the Don to run to the right if every Republican

[TENBILLIONDOLLARS 216]

TEN BILLION DOLLARS!

This dismays the old dudes in the Republican Establishment?

They must have gotten used to losing so much that the thought of winning hurts.

[Teddy B 17,251]

TEN BILLION DOLLARS!

This dismays the old dudes in the Republican Establishment?

They must have gotten used to losing so much that the thought of winning hurts.

Welcome back.

[TENBILLIONDOLLARS 216]

Welcome back.

Do you have TEN BILLION DOLLARS? I bet you don't.

[Teddy B 17,251]

Do you have TEN BILLION DOLLARS? I bet you don't.

No, but I've got a $2 hot dog and a $1 watah!

[Darnell 8,478]

bah. #TrumpYourCat

currently MORE FUN Than #CatPizza !

Edited July 16, 2015 by Darnell

[Jacque67 7,328]

No, but I've got a $2 hot dog and a $1 watah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMyoCPFsojY

Lol. Reminds me of Papaya King!

[Rob L 3,811]

bah. #TrumpYourCat

currently MORE FUN Than #CatPizza !

I vote for top row middle...it trully captures the spirit of the man