Donald Trump has been a divisive subject for Republicans running for House and Senate seats. The deeply unpopular Republican Presidential nominee is having difficulty raising funds, and the general consensus is that GOP chances in down-ticket races — the state and local races Republicans need to win to keep control of Congress and governorships — are suffering. But could Hillary Clinton be preventing Democrats from capitalizing on widespread dislike of the Republican ticket? If North Carolina’s top Democrats are any indication, down-ticket Democratic candidates are facing the same challenges Republicans are.
Clinton made her first joint campaign stop with President Barack Obama in Raleigh, North Carolina on Tuesday, and she had two surprise guests according to local media: the Democratic gubernatorial and Senate candidates for North Carolina. The two showed up today for Barack Obama’s appearance, but skipped a solo Clinton rally last week with lame excuses.
Campaign trackers for North Carolina’s Republican candidates found Democrats literally ran away from questions about their ties to Hillary Clinton just a few days ago.
The Wall Street Journal Monday provided what may be an explanation for their evasive maneuvers. In North Carolina, Trump and Clinton are running within the margin of error — and both Democrats are in close races. A point this way or that way could make the difference between a Democratic state government and a Republican one. And support for Hillary Clinton has a dramatic effect.
The WSJ/NBC News poll found that voters were far less inclined to support a candidate once they knew that candidate had endorsed Hillary Clinton: “[s]ome 32% said they would be less likely to vote for that candidate, while only 15% said they would be more inclined.”
In North Carolina, a battleground state, Democratic voters were 13% less likely to support a candidate who endorsed Hillary Clinton. Independent voters were almost 40% less likely.
And while Clinton’s numbers should be improving now that she’s the only viable Democrat left in the race, some experts are concerned that she may actually be moving further down in the polls, as she fails to win over Sanders supporters and “bad feelings” from the primary linger.
Today’s news about Clinton’s email foibles isn’t likely to help her gain trustworthiness among voters, either.
