IT may be less than a month away from the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, but the respective presumptive nominees for parties — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton — have sharpened their attacks against each other. Polls suggest that Hillary Clinton is winning in the match-up this early.
According to a CNN/ORC poll released on June 21, Clinton tops Trump by a 47 percent to 42 percent margin in the race to the White House, with just percent 22 of registered voters saying their minds could change between now and November.
Even with added candidates in the mix, Trump continues to be in a weaker position compared to Clinton. The same poll reveals that when Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party are included in the list of options, Clinton holds the lead at 42 percent, Trump 38 percent, Johnson 9 percent and Stein 7 percent.
The CNN/ORC poll shows Former State Sec. Clinton holding an edge over Trump on foreign policy, immigration, and trade. On the other hand, the respondents to the poll Trump is deemed to be stronger than Clinton on the economy and the fight against terrorism.
Despite the aforementioned opinions of registered voters on key issues, however, it seems Trump has much work to do to win the presidency. The poll reveals a majority say they ultimately expect Clinton to prevail in November: 55 percent say they think Clinton will win the presidency, only 38 percent think Trump will.
But public opinion isn’t just the hurdle he needs to surmount. Money is very important to run an effective and strong campaign nationwide heading into the November general elections, and Trump is also way behind Clinton in this race. According to NBC news, Clinton has outraised Trump 9-1. The Democratic presumptive nominee started off the month of June with $42 million cash-on-hand, while the Republican presumptive nominee has only $1.3 million.
In a dramatic effort to infuse new energy to his campaign to be more competitive in a broader electorate come November — Trump just fired Corey Lewandowski, his campaign manager who helped him win Republican presidential nominating contests.
Trump’s critics and political opponents say the dilemma is not just his staff nor money. They contend that the real problem is the candidate himself — Donald Trump.
Of course, many Filipinos in America believe in Trump and his campaign promises.
But does he really have the chance to win the votes of a broader electorate in America? What must he do to win the race to the White House?
* * *
Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
