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Rasmussen Pollster: Still Looks Like 'Trump vs. Clinton' in November
Wednesday, February 10, 2016 12:50 PM
By: Cathy Burke
All signs point to a general election matchup between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton — despite the stunning New Hampshire win for Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders and the deep pockets of establishment GOP campaigners, according to one pollster.
"Forget the day-after hoopla," Fran Coombs, the managing editor of Rasmussen Reports, writes Wednesday.
"It's still looking like Trump vs. Clinton this November."
Trump's firm hold on the GOP primary will be tough to topple as he continues to capitalize on voter anger with the establishment, Coombs writes.
"Considering that 87 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of all voters are angry at the current policies of the federal government, that seems to be shaping up as pretty good campaign strategy," she writes.
She also argues that with the White House nomination race intensifying, "it's questionable" whether Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who took second place in the N.H. primary, "can put together the national effort needed to be competitive in such a short time."
"Look now for [Texas Sen. Ted] Cruz and [Florida Sen. Marco] Rubio, the first and third place winners in Iowa, who basically tied for third place with Jeb Bush in New Hampshire, to show the power of money and organization and rebound in the next few primaries."
"Bush, the multimillion-dollar man," she adds, is "likely to be in the race as long as his donors are willing."
On the Democratic side, Coombs argues the Sanders' victory can't hold against the former secretary of state's campaign organization, and support among black voters.
"Sanders will be the media's flavor of the day for a while longer, but his crushing win in New Hampshire is unlikely to be duplicated in future primaries where Clinton's sizable organizational and money advantages will begin to take their toll on him," she writes.
"Clinton is also counting on the minority vote, virtually non-existent in Iowa and New Hampshire, to make a big difference for her in the primaries to come."
