All this hysteria over Trump popularity is over support by 11% of voters?? Am I missing something?

[Squinch]

Quinnipiac has 28% of registered Republicans supporting Trump as of today:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/27/politics/donald-trump-jeb-bush-poll-quinnipiac/index.html

And registered Republicans make up about 39% of the electorate:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_U.S._states

28% of 39% = 10.92%

Eleven percent rates this kind of hysterical coverage?

For comparison, Quinnipiac has Hillary at 45% of Dems, which are 43% of the population, which translates to being supported by 20% of the population, almost twice the support that Trump has. It has Bernie at 22% of Dems, which translates to almost 10% of the population, so he's TIED with Trump considering the margin of error.

SO what the hell is the point of all this wall to wall coverage of Trump's popularity?????

[Egnever]

1. Ratings

Turn off the TV

[Squinch]

3. And the newspaper and the computer, and stay off the bus! It's really pissing me off!

[madokie]

7. LOL

my sentiments exactly

[Lifelong Protester]

18. Same here, I'm sick of All Trump, All the Time

It's everywhere.

"Women will be taken care of"-don't want to be taken care of by him.

[Squinch]

38. Eeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww......

Just the thought is making my brain hurt.

[underthematrix]

2. yep. turn off TV

[roscoeroscoe]

4. Good job

You have pointed out the emperor has no clothes...

[pampango]

5. Hate directed at OTHERS, sells. Policy proposals that harm the 1%, not so much. n/t

[RKP5637]

6. Exactly! All of these polls suck, and for MSM it means $$$$$'s. n/t

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. Thanks for that

Between the All Trump All the Time coverage, I was getting a little depressed. The thought of going into retirement with Trump in the WH is just too much to bear. Thanks for giving it some perspective.

I'm still depressed about all the shootings the last few months though. There doesn't seem to be any cure for that in sight.

[Squinch]

9. I am with you about the shootings. Hang in there.

It's easy to feel helpless in the face of Americans' total opposition to common sense on the gun issue.

[leftynyc]

10. That 11% will make him the nominee

There is nobody in the rest of the field that has the balls to take him on. That's why you need to pay attention. He's going to be the nominee.

[stevenleser]

14. Yep. It's not even 11% anymore, latest poll I saw said 40% of Republican electorate.

And we shouldn't forget that a huge amount of the other 60% have Trump as their second choice.

I think he is going to be the nominee. And whoever we nominate better be ready for him. I've been thinking a lot about what facing him would be like. It would not be easy.

[leftynyc]

16. I'm not really worried

NYers have been watching the donald for decades - you can't believe the dirt there is on him that will stay safely tucked away until it's too late for him not to be the nominee. You can start with the fact that New Yorkers - the people that know him best - wont give him the time of day in an election.

[Maeve]

20. I can believe what you are saying about dirt

I've assumed that his enemies are just keeping their powder dry until he's over-inflated enough that the resulting explosion will be spectacular.

[leftynyc]

21. Why waste

the good stuff before we really need it ?

[Oneironaut]

11. You're assuming that the easily duped undecideds won't fall for his populist bs.

He's probably going to fail, but I wouldn't put anything past the American populace these days.

[Squinch]

30. I suppose you are right and we shouldn't put anything past the electorate that gave us 8 years of W.

Still. Eleven percent...

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

12. A handy visual aid

[Squinch]

31. I'm kind of waiting for his "999" plan. Though that may be giving him too much credit.

[Tipperary]

13. Here on the good old DU, I have seen dozens of threads about him daily. I can not figure out why.

[Senator Tankerbell]

15. It's about the spectacle

A lot of people find Trump entertaining even if they don't like him and would never vote for him. His whole persona is just absurd.

It is true however, that he is currently dominating the GOP. That is an interesting story. Most people didn't expect that. The fact that Hillary is in the lead isn't really news and was expected.

It's certainly true that Clinton has significantly more supporters at this point, but if you look at their approval vs disapproval numbers among all registered voters, they are pretty similar (39-51 for Clinton vs 36-54 for Trump) and both have 92% name recognition. Since there are so many republicans in the race, you have to think about who people's second or third choices would be.
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/images/polling/us/us08272015_Ueg38d.pdf

That said, I do agree, the media is overly obsessed with Trump.

[Tsiyu]

40. Well, look at that clown car they have

full of buffoons.

Next to them, Looney Toons Trump seems nearly normal.

[Lifelong Protester]

17. Sick of "All Trump, All the Time"

Can't stand MSNBC as all they do is blare TRUMP,TRUMP,TRUMP.

[Squinch]

32. THAT'S the worst part. THEY should be pointing out that his support is no greater than Bernie's.

But NOOOOOOOO.

[pnwmom]

19. The nominated Rethug has about a 50/50 chance in the general, no matter who s/he is.

And right now the Donald is the highest polling Rethug.

[moondust]

22. Sensationalist media hype.

Watching and commenting on TheRump is a lot easier than working hours and hours to put together a TV show of substance covering real issues. May get better ratings, too! Winning!!!!

[sibelian]

24. I think people think he's kind of exciting.

He's so freaky and out there.

I don't think anyone genuinely takes him anywhere near as seriously as he does himself.

[Rex]

25. Corporate News reports on their love for corporate demigog.

Real news...died long ago.

[geek tragedy]

26. he's quite clever at manipulating the media to garner attention for himself.

and Democrats, and the media, have a strong interest in seeing him continue to dominate the Republican party

[Squinch]

33. Yes, but it's quite transparent. His plan just seems to be to have outrageous fights with anyone

who crosses his path who is not an Anglo man.

[Warpy]

27. The point is that one of two major political parties

is getting close to a consensus that this bloated plutocrat blowhard is going to be their candidate in 2016, that he's a TV star with a recognizable name and billions at his command, and that for those reasons, he's going to be hard to beat because there are a lot of morons in this country who will be dazzled by all of the above.

A dull man who was a faithful servant of the plutocracy would be easy to beat unless the Democratic Party insiders insist on our equivalent of the same.

[markpkessinger]

28. +1000 n/t

[Squinch]

35. But it isn't really a consensus. He has 28% of Republican primary voters. He's really not that close

As everyone says, the issue is who is the second choice of the other 72% of Republican primary voters.

Which does still leave room for worry, but it's worry on the level of how we worried that Herman Cain would win last time around.

[markpkessinger]

29. Here is why Trump worries me . . .

Today I read a comment (can't remember where, unfortunately) by an 87-year-old man who claimed to be a Democrat. He wrote: "I'm a Democrat. I'll vote for Trump. Sure, I think he's an idiot, but at least he'll get something done."

Now, I realize one shouldn't draw conclusions based on a single anecdotal incident. But I think there are a lot of people out there who are taken in by Trump's bullshit.

Beyond that, I have never understood the mindset that believes that any action at all is better than no action.

[steve2470]

34. Trump talks like a dictator and too many like that kind of talk...

Democracy is usually slow and messy and involves compromises. Trump would never admit to all that.

[Squinch]

36. A friend who I thought was intelligent recently told me she was considering him.

That really stopped me cold.

[MicaelS]

37. The media loves and thrives on controversy.

Something minor happens, they blow it into a major story. If they can't find it, they manufacture it for ratings.

[denbot]

39. SSSHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

This is just starting to get really good!

[truebluegreen]

41. I'd call it 11% of primary voters.... nt

[grntuscarora]

42. For me, it's the 'what if' factor.

I read the coverage and get scared thinking 'what if' this incredible imbecile bamboozles his way into the presidency? Sure, it's unlikely. I still have faith in the bulk of the American electorate. But, jeebuz, what if???
The coverage of this idiot just galvanizes me into supporting the D alternative, whoever that may turn out to be.
So give me the Trump coverage. It makes me work, and donate, more.

[Squinch]

43. I completely get what you are saying. The sad thing is that all of the other Republican candidates

scare me just as much. There isn't one that would be anything other than a disaster. So the inescapable fact is that the Republican nominee is going to be some lunatic or another.

And yes, I agree. I am not one of those who says that if my primary candidate loses the primary I'll sit home and mope and hand the country over to some fascist. Our worst candidate is 100 times better than their best. I'll be proudly voting for the Democrat no matter who it is.