Presidential Primaries to Date and Upcoming Contests [Hillary Clinton = purple | Bernie Sanders = light blue | upcoming elections = gray] |Interactive map @ link: https://w.graphiq.com/w/9xje3F4IqSF

    The last question from the report (April 27, 2016):

4. Can Trump and Clinton unify their parties?  

 Watching the two candidates last night, it’s clear that Clinton is doing all she can to pivot to November, while Trump is still stuck fighting for the GOP nomination.

  Both, however, have got serious work to do post-primary to heal the rifts and strains created by these tough primary contests. Clinton, as I wrote last week, is finishing the primary season in worse shape than when she started.

  Polling taken last June by NBC/Wall Street Journal found her with an overall net positive rating among all voters of +4 (44 percent positive to 40 percent negative) and a +77 score among Democrats (84 percent positive to 7 percent negative).

  The most recent April NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, however, had her overall approval ratings deep underwater at -24 (32 percent positive to 56 percent negative), and her ratings among Democrats dropped as well from +77 to +46. Among all Sanders voters, she’s at -1 (40 to 41 percent).

This suggests that Clinton will have some work to do to get Sanders supporters on board the Clinton train this fall. How and when Sanders helps with this is also going to be critically important.

 However, the rift on the GOP side is deeper and more complicated for Trump to heal. While 78 percent of Democrats said they could “see themselves supporting” Clinton for President, just 61 percent of Republicans feel similarly about Trump. Among all Republicans, 36 percent said they’d be “dissatisfied” if Trump is the nominee – including 27 percent who said they’d be very dissatisfied. Among Democrats, 27 percent said they’d be dissatisfied with Clinton. Most of the anti-Trump sentiment is concentrated among Kasich voters (73 dissatisfied), college educated GOPers (55 percent dissatisfied) and those in higher income bracket (43 percent dissatisfied). This is why Trump’s attack last night on Hillary for playing the “woman card” is a misguided strategy that only plays into his weaknesses.

  Talk to GOP strategists, even those who are not Trump fans, and they’ll tell you that Clinton has serious problems with women voters – especially in key swing states. But, her path to victory is going to come in – and from – suburban voters – those who are college educated, higher income and more socially moderate. These are the voters already wary of Trump. Attacking Hillary as a “woman” who is only winning because of her gender is not the way to win them back. 

          _{— emphasis added}  

  So there is good news and some not so good news happening.

  Without any further input from me on the numbers cited in the report regarding party unity at the presidential level, where for the first time in 50 years the U.S. will hold the first presidential election without the full protections of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, there exists an option that is rarely chosen but one that could 1) help neutralize the worst effects of the nationwide GOP voter disenfranchisement/voter purging agenda and 2) for securing a Dem majority in the Senate, increasing the odds for re-taking the House, and winning many more down ballot races… 

  According to polling of voters on both sides of the aisle, uniting the Democratic party to its strongest front, would indicate that a move to the center is not the best strategy. Beltway pundits and establishment gurus generally agree that the nation is more polarized, but to what degree and over which issues, there is a divide between what everyday people care about and the issues the D.C. power brokers have in mind.

  Iow’s, maintaining and adopting a platform to the left of the spectrum and sticking to it may prove to be the best move in these times

More from the Cook Political Report on the 2016 Presidential Primaries and Caucuses April 27, 2016

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