Everyone who has followed this Presidential election must admit, they've never seen anything like Donald Trump as a candidate.
First and foremost he is not a politician, and many of his surrogates overuse that excuse. If he didn't want to feel the heat he should have stayed out of the kitchen.
He certainly knows how to use the media to get free TV time and have his name all over the press. Good or bad, it doesn't matter to him, it's all publicity.
The statement of his political skills being less than his opponents is well known. Just in staffing and offices throughout the country, he just didn't establish a ground game, essential to producing votes.
Did you watch the debates?
The debates were a complete atrocity. Trump acted like a stalker in the second debate, hovering over Hillary Clinton in a creepy kind of way.
His antagonistic manner of interrupting his opponent was much more obvious than when he debated a crowded stage of eight or more candidates. It's his method, it's what he does.
By all accounts (except the Trump campaign and followers) he lost all three debates by large margins...yet he wasn't out of the race by much.
How can he still be so close in the polls?
Let's review some of the hurdles Trump has leaped over, and with one week to go until the election, he's still not behind by much, or at all depending on which poll you read.
He has overcome:
1.) Not releasing his taxes, even though every candidate in modern times has done so. To his credit, he learned when Mitt Romney finally released his taxes, he fell in the polls.
2.) His bogus Trump University is under fire, with many complaining of being duped out of their money. The trial will be later this month AFTER the election. This is the same trial which Trump made remarks that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was assigned to the case was a Trump hater, and was a Mexican (when in fact he was born in Indiana) and therefore not capable of deciding the case.
3. The bombshell Access Hollywood tape of Trump and Billy Bush discussing how Trump would have his way with women, how he would hit on them, and in no uncertain terms, his language was not "locker room" talk or "boy talk" as it was described by his surrogates and wife. It was crude, disgusting language, and spoken as if he actually did things he described.
Then, the women came forward two weeks before the election to verify one by one (with the latest count being 13) that they indeed were assaulted by him, giving details.
Trump apologized (sort of) and classified it as locker room talk. He put down the women who came out against him as liars who had something to gain for coming forward, and that he would sue them. As of yet, not one woman has gained a thing, except clearing the air about Trump's vulgar behavior, and Trump has backed down on suing them. As usual, Trump makes threats, talks big, but doesn't follow through.
4.) Trump has described his opponent's issues if she were elected, but he has plenty of his own, including a rape trial in December involving a then 13-year old girl who was viciously raped at Trump's friend, John Epstein's sex party. The woman filed a federal lawsuit in June alleging that Trump raped her in 1994 when she was 13 and threatened to harm her and her family if she talked.
Epstein, a financier who was also friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton, was convicted in 2008 of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution and served 13 months of an 18-year prison term.
5.) Trump's attraction to many voters is his stance on immigration. A topic which needs attention, but not the type of attention Trump has put forward. He actually thinks he can build a massive wall, which would cost millions or more to construct and get the Congress to go along with the idea, with the ridiculous clause that the Mexican government would pay for the wall. The concept is quite laughable, but it fires up his base and incites his followers.
6.) Trump's economic platform would certainly bring tax cuts, but to the upper one percent, like himself. He would literally destroy all the positive results which President Obama has worked so hard to accomplish after he was left with a huge mess from the George Bush destructive economic policies.
7.) Trump claims he's going to create jobs, that his businesses have employed thousands of workers. He also is against raising the minimum wage and eliminating it completely.
November 8th will determine the outcome
Yet, with all this baggage Trump surprisingly has survived. His support amongst Republicans wavers at about 75 percent when past GOP Presidential candidates like John McCain and Mitt Romney had support in the 92-94 percent range.
The main reason Trump has survived is due to the weak candidacy of Clinton, and the endless attacks towards her. Had Bernie Sanders gathered the Democratic nomination, Trump would be losing by a larger margin.
So, the American voter has the choice of two very disliked candidates to choose from, and there is really only one candidate with the experience and background to be President.
Good try Donald, but you're run is over, and we won't have to listen to all the mud-slinging by both candidates much longer.
The only question remaining is will Clinton capture normally red states like Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina?
If Trump loses in large margins, the down-state elections will be affected. Clinton may have a Democratic Senate to work with, but will more than likely not enjoy a majority in Congress due to her recent continued email issues.
