Photo credit: Michael Vadon (CC-By-SA 4.0)
Donald Trump’s electability has been in question in the general election as he consistently loses one-on-one polling match-ups with Hillary Clinton being the weakest match-up with Clinton than the remaining field. A couple of weeks ago I pointed out a poll that showed Trump trailing Clinton in Utah.
Utah is not the only safe Republican state that would be vulnerable with Donald Trump as the nominee.
A new Mason-Dixon poll shows Trump running neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in Mississippi. The last time a Republican lost in Mississippi is in 1976 when President Gerald Ford lost to then Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter.
For some of our younger readers, you must remember that Ford was never elected. He was nominated and confirmed as Vice President when Spiro Agnew resigned as Vice President in 1973. Ford then became President when President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 as a result of the Watergate scandal. So while he was an incumbent President, he was a very, very weak candidate who lost to a southern Democrat.
Right now Trump leads Clinton by 3 points 46% to 43%. This is within the margin of error. In the case of a hypothetical third party candidate Trump and Clinton are tied at 39%.
Another number that will haunt Trump – how poorly he does with women. Clinton leads among women 47% to 40%. She even pulls 15% of white Republican women.
Ted Cruz and John Kasich don’t have this problem. Both have comfortable leads over Clinton with Cruz leading 51% to 40% and Kasich leading 52% to 37%.
So perhaps Trump should change his campaign motto to: Making Safe GOP Territory Vulnerable Again. If Trump can’t beat Clinton in states like Mississippi or Utah there is no way he’ll beat her in New York or California.