It may be hard to believe, but not even three weeks ago Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton walked on to the stage of the first presidential debate, polling neck and neck.
In the time since, Trump’s support has plummeted and the Republican party has become increasingly fractured, with influential and senior Republicans withdrawing support for their party’s nominee. Now, just days before the third and final debate, some observers are saying Clinton has all but clinched the Oval Office.
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“The whole drumbeat, the whole news cycle of stories has been so negative for Donald Trump, that it’s hard to see how that can turn around without some kind of cataclysmic news event that would somehow hurt Hillary Clinton,” Politico’s Luiza Savage said on The West Block with Tom Clark.
Since that first debate at the end of September, Trump has inflicted wound upon wound to himself, she said.
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“And he shows no sign that he is taking any kind of strategic effort to turn that around. He seems to be doubling down on the issues and the problems that have gotten him here,” Savage said.
Trump’s successful run for the nomination, however – and the fact many Americans continue to support him – speaks to deep problems in the United States, said Molly Ball, a politics reporter with The Atlantic.
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“There are so many deep cleavages and fissures in our social fabric. It’s really much more than just a political argument,” she said. “Given how many people are so alienated and have been receptive to Trump’s argument that, essentially, it’s everybody against everybody … based on race, based on gender, it’s hard to see where that goes.”
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Even if Clinton wins, as polls currently suggest she will, the divisiveness and bitterness will continue, she said.
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