Big caveat: The broader public approves of Trump’s decision (assuming that it is a firm decision) not to appoint a special prosecutor to go after her. The right might not like him backing off of “locking her up” but it’s sound, conciliatory politics with the wider electorate.
Democrats are naturally pleased, but how about his right-wing base and independents? How grumpy are they about him not going after Hillary? Not much, it turns out. Indies actually lean towards saying he made a good decision; Republicans lean towards bad, but only slightly.
The one warning sign for Trump: Among that 69 percent of Republicans who say Hillary should be prosecuted, nearly half (45 percent) say it’s “very important” that it happen. That’s more than 30 percent of the GOP that’s going to be disappointed if, once he’s inaugurated, he really does rule out an investigation. Not a huge deal, but the annoyance might wax and wane depending upon how active Clinton is in her retirement in criticizing him. If she and Obama are doing interviews every few weeks declaring Trump some unprecedented threat to the country, some righties will want to know why she was allowed to skate. That in itself won’t stop Trump from holding on to their support, but if it’s accompanied by other broken promises, well…
Here, for instance, is Ann Coulter reacting to news that Mike Pence will be getting straight to work on immigration with comprehensive immigration reform fan Paul Ryan:
Sounds like the big sell-out is coming. Oh well. The voters did what we could. If Trump sells out, it's not our fault. https://t.co/tdMpAuDaRI
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) December 2, 2016
Coulter was also unhappy with Trump announcing that the DOJ shouldn’t go after Clinton. Ah well. Enjoy a little vintage “lock her up” action from Trump’s victory rally in Cincinnati last night.
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