Thread: Hillary Clinton Has Edge Over Donald Trump In General Election

May 10, 20166:00 AM ET DOMENICO MONTANARO

Hillary Clinton Ahead Of Donald Trump, General-Election Map Shows : NPR

Donald Trump ‘closing the gap on Hillary Clinton’ in one-on-one Quinnipiac University poll

MAY 11, 20165:19AM

VOTERS in West Virginia and Nebraska have cast ballots in White House primaries as a new poll showed presumptive nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump neck-and-neck in three key battleground states.

Ms Clinton still has active competition for the Democratic nomination despite her virtually insurmountable lead in the delegate count, and rival Bernie Sanders was looking for a big win in West Virginia.

Mr Trump is now alone in his quest for the Republican nomination, his last two rivals — Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich — having dropped out after the New York billionaire’s blowout victory in Indiana last week.

However Mr Cruz has floated the possibility of restarting his “suspended campaign” if his chances improve.

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton are expected to battle it out
in November. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

A Quinnipiac University poll showed Mr Trump rapidly closing in on Ms Clinton’s lead in two major battleground states — Florida and Pennsylvania — and overtaking her in swing state Ohio.

No candidate has won the presidential election without taking at least two of those three states.

“Six months from election day, the presidential races between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the three most crucial states — Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania — are too close to call,” said Peter Brown, the poll’s assistant director.

The poll also found that Senator Sanders, a democratic socialist who commands an enthusiastic following on the left, would do better against Mr Trump than Ms Clinton in all three states if he were the Democratic nominee.

The 74-year-old Vermont senator, who defeated Ms Clinton in Indiana last week, has mounted an unyielding come-from-behind challenge that has exposed weaknesses in the former secretary of state’s campaign.

US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is still in the running but is a long shot. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

Although almost certain to win the Democratic nomination — she is only 155 delegates short of that goal — Ms Clinton’s ability to excite young and white working class Democrats going into the general election has been put in doubt by Senator Sanders’s primary successes.

In West Virginia, a coal mining state in the heart of Appalachia, Ms Clinton shot herself in the foot in March, telling voters in neighbouring Ohio: “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”

She later apologised and suggested her remarks were misunderstood, but in a state where livelihoods have hinged on coal for generations, many are unconvinced.

Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich have both pulled out of the Republican race for president.
Picture: APSource:AP

Recent polls show Senator Sanders with as much as a six-point lead over the 68-year-old former first lady among Democrats in the state, where 29 delegates are up for grabs.

Meanwhile, Mr Cruz on Tuesday flagged the opportunity he could restart his “suspended” campaign.

“We launched this campaign intending to win. The reason we suspended our campaign was that with the Indiana loss, I felt there was no path to victory,” he told US talk host Glenn Beck on Tuesday. “If that changes, we will certainly respond accordingly.”

Ted Cruz floated the possibility of restarting his “suspended” presidential campaign.
Picture: AP Photo/Darron CummingsSource:AP

Polls opened in West Virginia at 6:30am (8:30pm AEST) and close at 7:30pm (9:30am AEST)

In Nebraska, polls opened in the Republican primary at 8am (11pm AEST) and close at 8pm (11am AEST). The Democrats caucused there on March 5, and Senator Sanders won.

While Ms Clinton still has Senator Sanders to worry about, Mr Trump faces a rebellion within the Republican leadership over the insulting tone and shifting substance of his candidacy.

House speaker Paul Ryan in the past week announced he was “not ready” to support Mr Trump, a rare rebuke that put the power struggles underway within the Republican party on public display.

Former US presidents George W Bush (L) and his father George H W Bush won’t attend the Republican convention.
Picture: SuppliedSource:AP

In the same week, former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced they would not attend the party’s nominating convention in Cleveland in July.

The Republican establishment is still reeling from Mr Trump’s hostile takeover of the party, aghast at positions he’s taken on trade, foreign policy and taxes that fly in the face of conservative dictums.

But Mr Trump has shown no sign of backing down, reportedly moving instead to assert control over the Republican National Committee’s fundraising and political organising infrastructure.

According to The New York Times, Mr Trump has said he may need as much as $1.5 billion for the campaign ahead, and will seek to raise it from donors rather than to self-finance as he has up to now.

Meanwhile, he has given New Jersey Governor Chris Christie the task of planning a transition to a Trump administration, including searches for future cabinet secretaries.

Already on board the Trump train is former Texas governor Rick Perry, an early dropout from the Republican race who endorsed the 69-year-old real estate mogul last week.

“I full well expect the Republican party to fall in behind Donald Trump to help him get elected, because again, the alternative here is very, very different,” Mr Perry said.

Trump ‘closing the gap on Clinton’

I think when angry sore loser Republicans learn to shut their mouths, Trump is going to close all the gaps. And if Sanders really thinks his numbers would hold up in a one-on-one with Trump, then he doesn't appreciate the truly free ride he's had with Trump during the primary. Neither Clinton nor Bernie really understand what they're in for when one of them is nominated.

VOTE TRUMP

RYAN'S GOTTA GO

SCOTT BROWN FOR VP

Oh my God, I just saw Bernie going after Trump tonight calling him a racist, a bigot, a misogynist. Poor Bernie. Wait for the counter-punch, it's a coming and it won't be pretty. What a bad move, Bernie.