Bad press is nothing new for Trump, but this week’s batch had a sinister edge to it. That didn’t hurt him among Republican voters — it may have even helped him — but Democrats and some Republicans are disturbed that Trump’s violent rhetoric and authoritarian posture hasn’t slowed his gallop to the GOP nomination. If you are a Democratic primary voter and you are on the fence between Clinton and Sanders, fear of Trump may well be enough to tip the balance toward Clinton, who seems like a surer bet to take down Trump in the general.
There is some evidence to back up this theory. The first is the exit polls from Tuesday’s election. There are arguments that Sanders is in a better position to beat Trump in a general election, but Democratic voters don’t seem to be buying them. Clinton has always led Sanders among voters who say electability is a key attribute in the Democratic nominee, and two-thirds of Democratic voters on Tuesday said Clinton is more electable than Sanders.
The states where she did best, like Florida, had a higher percentage of respondents (75 percent) calling Clinton more electable than in the states that were much closer, like Missouri (57 percent). The Democratic electorate found Sanders more inspiring and honest, but a fat lot of good that will do if Trump is elected president. Even if electability isn’t a voter’s primary concern for a presidential candidate, it almost certainly factors in, especially if he or she views the probable alternative as completely unacceptable or even dangerous.
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