Ask any Democrat and just a few short weeks ago – heck, just a few short days ago – New Hampshire was firmly in the camp of Hillary Clinton.
But now?
Not so fast, says a new poll from WBUR.
Apparently, the constant WikiLeaks’ dumps are having an effect – along with the massive surges in Obamacare costs on the all-crucial middle-class voter – and now Donald Trump is seeing a glimmer of hope in the Granite State.
This latest WBUR poll of likely voters in the state finds that Trump and Clinton are in a statistical dead heat. Just three weeks ago, this same WBUR survey found Clinton in the lead by three percentage points.
“The race really couldn’t be closer in New Hampshire at the moment,” said Steve Koczela, the president of the MassINC Polling Group that conducted the survey for WBUR.
Another significant finding in the poll is that while New Hampshire voters aren’t enamored with either candidate, they dislike Clinton to a greater degree.
As WBUR reported: Only 37 percent regarded Trump with favorable eyes. But Clinton’s numbers are lower. Only 36 percent say they see Clinton with a favorable view.
And get this: This is the first time that state voters have viewed Clinton with less favorable eyes than Trump.
“When we started this campaign,” Koczela said, WBUR reported. “Trump was the most disliked candidate ever to be nominated by a major party and Hillary Clinton was the second most disliked.”
Driving that dislike, particularly for Clinton?
Seventy percent polled voters said Clinton was not honest and trustworthy, versus 60 percent for Trump.
So what’s the big deal about New Hampshire, anyway?
Well look at this, from the blog site 270towin.com: “Although surrounded by ‘blue’ states, the independent nature of New Hampshire voters leads it to be considered a battleground state in most election cycles. (It has, however, ultimately voted Democratic in five of the last six elections.) In 2012, Barack Obama won by about 5.5% over Mitt Romney.”
In other words, New Hampshire is a good gauge of how the Independents are leaning. And in this race to the White House, the up to 10 percent of voters who claim to be Independent are the ones Trump needs to capture to win.
very well written!