Cracking The Ceiling: Is Trump Turning the Tide on Clinton?

image
Published: 14 Jul, 2016
2 min read

Ahh, the ebbs and flows of a presidential campaign.

One day the polls say you have zero chance of winning, the next day you’re holding a slim lead.

So goes the battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

The FBI investigation, the drama of picking a VP, which according to several sources is going to be Indiana Governor Mike Pence, and the many surrogates working hard to flood the airwaves with their talking points and finely coiffed hair and suits. It’s all very important and possibly game-changing stuff, but the larger question remains.

What is Donald J. Trump’s ceiling?

If you ask Paul Begala, Hillary Clinton’s super PAC strategist, he’ll tell you Trump's ceiling is right around 40%, which is where both candidates are currently polling. Why is that important? A candidate will likely need close to 50% to win the White House. That equates to about 65 to 70 million votes.

Begala is working hard to keep Trump as close to 40% as he can, “With Trump, he wants to build a wall; I want to build a ceiling. Right now he’s got his 40 percent of the vote and it is ironclad. I want to build a ceiling. We’ve been advertising very heavily on the outrageous things that Donald Trump has said about women, about national security, most powerfully about the disabled and that is building a ceiling. There is only one national poll out of ten or twelve that has him even over 40 and he has got to get close to 50.”

Trump was able to reach the 50% mark in late April and with the selection of his VP candidate Pence, he could begin to forge a lead over Mrs. Clinton nationally.

There’s also this. The Black Lives Matter movement could actually HELP Trump’s candidacy.

IVP Donate

The decision by leaders of the BLM to continue protests even after five white police officers were shot and killed in Dallas gave Trump a golden opportunity. Trump seized on it and has now labeled himself the “law and order” candidate. With violence and disorder erupting nearly every week across the country, it could become harder and harder for a majority of Americans to turn their back on the “law and order” candidate.

Additionally, a new Pew poll shows Evangelicals rushing to Trump’s side. Seventy-eight percent of white evangelical voters say they would vote for Trump if the election were held today, including about a third who “strongly” back his campaign.

All of this could mean a ceiling of closer to 55% nationally for America’s ultimate showman.

Still to be determined, though, is what impact, if any, Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson could have on the race. The latest poll shows Johnson at 12% nationally, up from 10% just two months ago. If Johnson continues to climb and makes it into the national conversation and debates, he could very well have a big impact on the outcome.

But this is mid-July, and with the election still months away, anything, as we have seen in this campaign, is possible.

You Might Also Like

Trump sitting in the oval office with a piece of paper with a cannabis leaf on his desk.
Is Trump About to Outflank Democrats on Cannabis? Progressives Sound the Alarm
As President Donald Trump signals renewed interest in reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III, a policy goal long championed by liberals and libertarians, the reaction among some partisan progressive advocates is not celebration, but concern....
08 Dec, 2025
-
5 min read
Malibu, California.
From the Palisades to Simi Valley, Independent Voters Poised to Decide the Fight to Replace Jacqui Irwin
The coastline that defines California’s mythology begins here. From Malibu’s winding cliffs to the leafy streets of Brentwood and Bel Air, through Topanga Canyon and into the valleys of Calabasas, Agoura Hills, and Thousand Oaks, the 42nd Assembly District holds some of the most photographed, most coveted, and most challenged terrain in the state. ...
10 Dec, 2025
-
6 min read
Ranked choice voting
Ranked Choice for Every Voter? New Bill Would Transform Every Congressional Election by 2030
As voters brace for what is expected to be a chaotic and divisive midterm election cycle, U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin (Md.), Don Beyer (Va.), and U.S. Senator Peter Welch (Vt.) have re-introduced legislation that would require ranked choice voting (RCV) for all congressional primaries and general elections beginning in 2030....
10 Dec, 2025
-
3 min read