The GOP’s Chances Of Holding The Senate Are Following Trump Downhill

[Rob L 3,811]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-gops-chances-of-holding-the-senate-are-following-trump-downhill/

Donald Trump’s post-conventions polling slump seems to be having an effect on the Republican Party’s U.S. Senate candidates. We thought this might happen: There’s been an increasingly strong relationship between how a state votes for president and how it votes for Senate over the past few election cycles. And, indeed, Trump’s tumble has coincided with worsening GOP numbers in key states. It may cost the party the Senate.

Democrats need to gain a net of four or five seats to win control of the Senate, depending on whether Hillary Clinton or Trump wins the presidency.¹ Before the conventions, polling in the 10 states whose Senate seats were most likely to flip between parties this November showed a pretty close race. Democratic candidates led in Illinois and Wisconsin, both of which would be pickups for their party. The Republican candidate was leading in Nevada (a seat that Democrats currently control). I didn’t include Indiana in my pre-convention analysis because of Democrat Evan Bayh’s late entrance into the race — we had just one partisan poll that included Bayh — but Democratic chances seemed good there (it would be another Democratic pickup). And Republicans led in the other competitive Senate races, all seats the GOP currently holds, so Democrats looked like they could pick up a net of two seats if everything stayed as it was and the polling leader in each state went on to win.

Since the conventions, however, Trump’s polling has worsened — overalland in states with key Senate races. In the eight states with competitive Senate races and both pre- and post-conventions polling,² Trump had previously been down an average of about 6 percentage points; he’s now down an average of 9 points.³ And while Republican Senate candidates had been up by an average of a little more than 1 percentage point before the conventions in these eight states, they are now down by a little more than 1 point. That is, Republican Senate candidates in key states are still running ahead of Trump, but that cushion may no longer be enough to win now that Trump’s fortunes have worsened.

AUG. 3 MARGIN

AUG. 15 MARGIN

CHANGE

STATE

TRUMP

GOP SENATE CANDIDATE

TRUMP

GOP SENATE CANDIDATE

TRUMP

GOP SENATE CANDIDATE

N.H.

-2

+2

-11

-5

-9

-7

Illinois

-18

-1

-20

-7

-2

-6

Pennsylvania

-6

+2

-10

-2

-4

-4

N.C.

-1

+4

-5

+1

-4

-3

Wisconsin

-9

-8

-12

-11

-3

-3

Nevada

-3

+3

-4

+2

-1

-1

Florida

-4

+5

-5

+5

-1

0

Ohio

-4

+4

-6

+6

-2

+2

Average









-3.3

-2.8

Trump may be dragging down Republican Senate candidates

Note: The Aug. 15 numbers are as of 7 p.m.

Six of the eight Republican candidates for Senate are polling worse than they were before the conventions. Nothing has changed in Florida, according to the polls. And Sen. Rob Portman in Ohio is the only Republican whose fortunes have improved. (That may be partially because he has amassive fundraising edge over his Democratic opponent, Ted Strickland.) The biggest shifts have been in Illinois, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, and in the latter two, the leader flipped.

[John Miller 761]

[Teddy B 17,252]

And away go troubles down the drain.

[lostinblue 1,989]

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

[John Miller 761]

Comparing the US media to Goebbels' propaganda machine is such a ridiculous display of utter ignorance of history. Good Lord.

[Boiler 45,516]

GOP should dump Trump and focus on Congress.

[John Miller 761]

That would carry the risk of Trump's peeps exacting revenge at the polls. And that would be disastrous for the GOP in both chambers of Congress. Of course, if they don't dump him, he will cost them moderate votes. There's no golden strategy. It's a lot fun to watch. Really. Because Trump is the result of the GOP vitriol against the Obama administration over the last 7 years. He's Karma. With small hands and a weave.

[Rob L 3,811]

GOP should dump Trump and focus on Congress.

How does one dump Trump?

[lostinblue 1,989]

Keep talking about gun control ....

[John Miller 761]

It might be surprising to some around here but for most people, it's not all about guns. There are much more important things in life.

[lostinblue 1,989]

It might be surprising to some around here but for most people, it's not all about guns. There are much more important things in life.

You need a history lesson

[John Miller 761]

You need a history lesson

No, my history is pretty solid. Solid enough that unlike some here I know that US media is not comparable to or even worse than Goebbels' propaganda machine. Not even the Right Wing Echo Chamber can compete with Goebbels' indoctrination.

But since we're exploring what the other might need - methinks that maybe you need a life.