'Problems' are 'piling up around Trump' as general election campaign gets off to 'rocky start'

21 March 2024

Donald Trump has entered the 2024 presidential race's general election phase with, according to many polls, a small advantage over incumbent President Joe Biden. Most of the polls released in March have showed Trump with narrow single-digit leads, although some recent polls find Biden leading Trump by 2 percent (Emerson College) or 1 percent (Daily Kos/Civiqs and Reuters/Ipsos).

RealClearPolitics, factoring in all of the pollsters it keeps track of, gives Trump a 2 percent advantage over Biden as of March 21. However, The Economist's polling average now shows Biden with a 1 percent advantage.

But Politico reporters Adam Wren and Natalie Allison, in an article published on March 21, stress that regardless of what many polls are showing, Trump's general election push is off to a "rocky start."

"The former president may be up in the polls, seemingly in the driver’s seat against a deeply unpopular incumbent," Wren and Allison explain. "But problems, including many of his own making, are piling up around him. And his first two weeks as his party's presumptive nominee have revealed old tendencies and new vulnerabilities that — taken in totality — amount to a rocky start to his general election campaign against Joe Biden."

The Politico journalists note that Trump's campaign advisers "are acknowledging the uneven transition to the general election." And they cite specific weaknesses.

"Donald Trump is walking back recent comments about cutting Social Security," Wren and Allison observe. "He's searching for an elusive abortion message that will offend neither anti-abortion voters nor suburban moderates. He's inviting negative news cycles with claims that Jewish Democrats 'hate' their religion and warnings of a coming auto industry 'bloodbath.' And to top it off, he's low on campaign cash — and doesn't have the personal fortune to post a bond in the civil fraud judgment against him in New York."

Wren and Allison report that according to GOP sources interviewed on condition of anonymity, a senior adviser on Trump's campaign was worried about recent news coverage.

Former Trump campaign adviser David Urban told Politico, "The only person who can beat Donald Trump is Donald Trump. I don't think we're there yet."

Rep. Wayne MacDonald, a Republican who serves in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and formerly chaired the New Hampshire GOP, notes that Trump "doesn't seem to be too concerned about" swing voters.

MacDonald told Politico, "I think he feels very confident and pretty much can say and do whatever he wants to, but I'd suggest that he be careful.”

Read Politico's full report at this link.

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