For those of you escaping the grim reality of Australian politics by playing along with the absurd fantasyland of the United States election, this is what one might call a turning point. Donald Trump, long discounted by progressives and centrists as a Cheezel-looking nutbag who would be quickly vanquished by policy wonks from within their coastal liberal enclaves, has slipped ahead of likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the current poll averages.
RealClearPolitics compiles a poll average which – while certainly not definitive – is generally a good overview of how the American electorate is looking at this point in time. And the vibe is currently Trump: he’s holding a tiny 0.2% lead. That change happened quickly.
In any normal presidential contest this far out from an election, a negligible lead like that would barely warrant mentioning.
But hey – this isn’t a normal election. Standard American liberal thinking to this point is that Trump is so patently insane that he will fracture the Republican Party and enable a smooth sailing finish for Clinton. This poll indicates that she’ll have to fight a lot harder to challenge him come November.
There are a couple of possible reasons for this. Firstly, Clinton can’t shake the insurgency of candidate Bernie Sanders, which is not a great sign for her, to be honest. If she’s struggling to put down a 74-year-old irascible socialist from Vermont, then the walking insult machine that is Trump is sure to provide issues when he fully focuses his sights on her.
Secondl, it’s important to remember that both candidates are deeply, deeply unpopular. Australian media – P.TV included – like to have a chuckle about Trump’s crassness, but ultimately he’s only marginally more hated by the American electorate than Clinton. This is a contest between two candidates despised by America for a raft of different reasons, and we’ll probably see a much closer race than many progressives want to think.
But hey! Americans (and those who like to follow their crazy antics) have until November to keep this insane train rolling. Maybe the length of time before the election means we should take this kind of polling with a grain of salt, but personally we think you should begin cracking each other’s heads open and feasting on the goo inside.
Source: RealClearPolitics.
Photo: NPR.
