OPINION:
Although Donald Trump is trailing Hillary Clinton in most head-to-head matchups and is getting berated by the media and GOP establishment on a daily basis, one statistic is holding true: Americans feel he has a better sense of what’s happening in the world than Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Trump’s pessimistic message has continued to beat Mrs. Clinton’s positivity.
A Bloomberg News poll released this week asked “which one of the following best describes your feelings about this presidential campaign?” The choices were between “the U.S. is in a dark and dangerous place, with threats from overseas and within our borders,” — akin to Mr. Trump’s message — and “the U.S. is in a strong position for progress on the economy and national security,” — like Mrs. Clinton’s message.
Fifty-six percent of respondents chose Mr. Trump’s view, beating Mrs. Clinton’s message by 16 percentage points.
The results echoed a similar stat in a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released last week.
The poll — taken while Mr. Trump was fighting with a Gold Star family and his position within the race was sinking — found his convention speech resonated more than Mrs. Clinton’s.
Mr. Trump’s message in the poll was of “a moment of crisis for our nation,” where attacks on the police and terrorism “threaten our way of life.” Mrs. Clinton’s statement was sunnier, saying “do not let anyone tell you that our country is weak. … Do not let anyone tell you we don’t have what it takes. We do.”
Mr. Trump’s message won by a 52 percent to 36 percent ratio, with more voters saying he described what they were thinking “very well.”
There’s still two months to go until Election Day. Mr. Trump’s got a winning message, he just needs to stop failing it.
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