This morning, Real Clear Politics is highlighting a piece on CNN by Julian Zelizer in which he claims that the Republican presidential candidates are "floundering". Some points made by Zelizer include gems like the "natural" GOP front runner Jeb Bush is not doing well and that the Republicans have to stop attacking the media. There's really no reason to repeat Zelizer's points; they are not only wrong, they're essentially idiotic. What Zelizer is presenting is the view of Republicans held in the faculty club at Princeton, not the reality of the American electorate. Only in the bubble, calling out the media for its bias against Republicans is a bad thing. In the real world, real people understand who the media actually is. In other words, there is a reason why the public holds such a low opinion of the media.
Let's go, however, to the heart of this CNN article. Are the GOP candidates really floundering? Here are the facts: in head to head polling against the all but certain Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton we find that six months ago and three months ago Hillary had substantial polling leads over every Republican candidate. Now, Dr. Carson, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, and even Jeb Bush hold leads over Clinton and Trump only trails her by 2%. These are not measured by one poll which might be distorted; these figures are the RCP average of all polls taken in the last five weeks. Dr. Carson, for example was behind Hillary by 10% in polls in July, but the latest Quinipiac poll puts him ahead by 10%. That is hardly "floundering".
Remember, Hillary Clinton ought to have an advantage in these head to head polls. Millions of people who aren't paying much attention to the race know Hillary from her many decades in the public eye. On the other hand, someone like Marco Rubio is a fresh face that big chunks of the electorate still does not know. Nevertheless, Rubio is up by 5% in the latest poll.
For Zelizer, GOP candidates are floundering when they are not playing by the Democrat rule book. Republicans are supposed to stay relatively low key and to lose to the Democrat in a campaign that allows the left to define just who the GOP candidate really is. This year, most of the Republicans are refusing to cooperate. That's why Zelizer thinks there a big problem for the GOP. The truth, however, is that the problem is mainly for the Democrats. They are stuck with a candidate who not only is incapable of telling the truth, but, more inmportant, who the public knows to be a liar. That's not a winning situation; even with a biased media, there are just too many people who won't vote for someone they don't trust.
Let's go, however, to the heart of this CNN article. Are the GOP candidates really floundering? Here are the facts: in head to head polling against the all but certain Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton we find that six months ago and three months ago Hillary had substantial polling leads over every Republican candidate. Now, Dr. Carson, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, and even Jeb Bush hold leads over Clinton and Trump only trails her by 2%. These are not measured by one poll which might be distorted; these figures are the RCP average of all polls taken in the last five weeks. Dr. Carson, for example was behind Hillary by 10% in polls in July, but the latest Quinipiac poll puts him ahead by 10%. That is hardly "floundering".
Remember, Hillary Clinton ought to have an advantage in these head to head polls. Millions of people who aren't paying much attention to the race know Hillary from her many decades in the public eye. On the other hand, someone like Marco Rubio is a fresh face that big chunks of the electorate still does not know. Nevertheless, Rubio is up by 5% in the latest poll.
For Zelizer, GOP candidates are floundering when they are not playing by the Democrat rule book. Republicans are supposed to stay relatively low key and to lose to the Democrat in a campaign that allows the left to define just who the GOP candidate really is. This year, most of the Republicans are refusing to cooperate. That's why Zelizer thinks there a big problem for the GOP. The truth, however, is that the problem is mainly for the Democrats. They are stuck with a candidate who not only is incapable of telling the truth, but, more inmportant, who the public knows to be a liar. That's not a winning situation; even with a biased media, there are just too many people who won't vote for someone they don't trust.
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