WASHINGTON – Washington GOP insiders are said to be "near panic mode" concerning Donald J. Trump's presidential bid against Hillary Clinton. The situation has gotten so bad that Trump told GOP insiders to "be quiet" this week.
"You know, the Republicans, honestly folks, our leaders, our leaders have to get tougher. This is too tough to do it alone. But you know what, I think I’m going to be forced to. I think I am going to be forced to, our leaders have to get a lot tougher,” he began.
Then with a bite, he said, "And be quiet. Just please be quiet. Don't talk, please be quiet.”
The numbers aren't good. Within the past week, a Bloomberg poll showed Trump dropping 10 points from 47 to 37 with Clinton nearing the magical 50, with 49 percent and winning. The Libertarian Party's Gary Johnson is polling at nine percent.
But not only are the numbers in a Trump versus Clinton matchup disturbing Republicans, Trump is apparently becoming a turn-off to a huge number of Americans.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll earlier this week found Trump was viewed unfavorably by 70 percent of the electorate. And if that wasn't bad enough, he was seen unfavorably by 94 percent of African-Americans, 89 percent of Hispanics and 77 percent of women.
Last week, Illinois U.S. Senator Mark Kirk withdrew his support for Trump, while the Republican delegation from Illinois has for the most part remained generally supportive for whoever the Republicans nominate and steadfastly "against Hillary."
The more cold the support runs for Trump, the more traditional GOP check writers are turning off the fund-flowing spigot. At the same time, Clinton is starting to spend her nearly billion dollar war chest by running million dollar ad campaigns in the swing states Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.
Florida Republican strategist Rick Wilson told Politico there's an array of problems Trump faces as the RNC Convention in Cleveland approaches in July.
“Look, I mean, what could be going wrong with Donald Trump? … He is being out-raised by every possible fundraising metric. He is losing in the national polling averages. He is being crushed in the swing-state polls. He is being devastated in the polls in the states that he claims he is going to put into play, such as California, New Jersey and New York. … And he is increasingly erratic.”
