Media has Trump Derangement Syndrome, but the polls don’t care.
Via The Hill:
Rumors of Donald Trump’s demise may have been greatly exaggerated.
Ever since rival Carly Fiorina was widely perceived to have bested Trump at the second GOP debate in California on Sept. 16, media outlets have been lining up to suggest that the front-runner is waning.
Trump has hit back with characteristic vigor. But he has a point, independent observers say.
“The reality is that he does have a hold on some people and he doesn’t appear to be surrendering it,” said Mark Mellman, a veteran Democratic pollster who is also a columnist for The Hill.
Much of the negative media attention has been built around a single poll in the immediate aftermath of the debate, by CNN/ORC.
The survey showed the businessman’s support among Republican voters nationwide had declined by 8 percentage points since the last survey from the same source, less than two weeks before.
That was a sizable decline, to be sure — even though Trump still led his closest rival by 9 percentage points. But no other reputable poll since the debate has shown Trump falling by anything like that margin.