The polls tell Trump he is not building his base of voters. After the self-inflicted wounds of the Judge Curiel Trump University matter, and the failure to respond effectively to the Orlando shootings, the best the polls can tell Trump now is that he has not fallen as far as he might have…

One bit of terrible news in the Post-ABC poll — one not affected by its partisan mix — is Trump’s weakness among Republicans. Ninety percent of Democrats told Post pollsters they plan to vote for Clinton. Just 77 percent of Republicans said they plan to vote for Trump. Before anything else, the Republican nominee has to win over the Republican party. Eight weeks after clinching the nomination, Trump hasn’t done it…

When faced with new poll results, some Trump defenders have fallen back on their old 2012 habit of “unskewing” the polls. Trump himself seems inclined to do that, too. But that was a disastrous tactic four years ago, and it will be no better this time. The polls, taken together, are telling Donald Trump something. They’re telling him that what he is doing now is not working, that he has to convince voters that he is a plausible president, that he has to present a more coherent message and not obsess on things like a lawsuit against one of his companies or a particularly lovely Scottish golf course. The polls are telling Trump that it is long past time to be presidential. And finally, they’re telling Trump there’s still a chance — if he would only listen.