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July 16, 2015 5:00 pm - NewsBehavingBadly.com

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Another day, another poll showing Republican presidential candidate and anti-Mexican crusader Donald Trump leading the presidential field, but this time, with a difference. One of the ways in which the political media has thus far been able to dismiss Trump’s candidacy has been his extraordinarily high negatives, which allow him to lead in a flat field, but which present a low ceiling for him down the road. According to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, though, Trump not only leads the entire Republican field with 17% support, his favorability among Republicans has nearly tripled since their last poll:

Trump’s positive ratings are up very sharply among Republicans and strong conservatives, by 34 and 30 points, to 57 and 55 percent, respectively. He’s also gained 26 points among seniors and 24 points among whites, to 38 and 42 percent in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates.

That spike in favorability was enough to more than double Trump’s overall favorability, from 16% in May to 33% in the latest poll. That still gets him clobbered in the general election, but suddenly gives him lots of room to move up in the Republican nominating contest even after the field narrows. With the first televised debate just weeks away, Trump is poised to open up a huge national lead once he gets done stuffing Jeb Bush into a locker on Fox News.

As the political media struggles to explain Trump’s popularity, they toss around adjectives like “bold” and “brash,” two things that Trump was in May, and that lots of other GOP candidates are now. What they seem afraid to say is …READ MORE

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D.B. Hirsch
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.