Bernie Sanders refused to step away from his support of Hillary Clinton amid the chaos surrounding the Democratic National Committee. Donald Trump’s campaign and great convention week has helped unified Republicans and Independents but Trump’s surge in the polls is mostly a result of Hillary Clinton’s chaotic month that turned the American people against her.
Here are how things unfolded:
June 30: Former President Bill Clinton meets privately with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on a Tarmac at the Phoenix airport. The meeting reportedly lasted 37 minutes and came just days before the FBI released their report on the Clinton emails.
July 2: Clinton is questioned by the FBI for 3 1/2 hours.
July 5: Director of FBI James Comey decided not to indict Hillary Clinton for her use of a private server. He refers to Clinton’s actions as ‘extremely careless’ and ‘especially concerning’ in her handling of classified information which was probably hacked. The GOP is in outrage and Clinton’s poll numbers on honesty and favorability drop significantly.
July 18-21 The Republican National Convention takes place. The speakers attack Clinton’s foreign policy and bad judgment over the use of a private server. Chants of ‘Lock her up’ and ‘Guilty’ are echoed throughout the four days. Among the most effective attack dogs are Chris Christie and Rudy Guiliani. Trump informs the public during his speech that the system is rigged and Bernie Sanders never had a chance. Trump’s speech is a success and 75 percent of the public gave it a positive response.
July 22: Wikileaks releases nearly 20,000 emails sent between the Clinton Campaign and The Democratic National Committee which shows impartiality and strong bias towards Clinton. The emails give evidence in attempts to sabotage Bernie Sanders by questioning his faith, and efforts to silence his supporters.
July 23: Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Chairperson of the DNC, steps down before the parties convention. Emails point to her collusion with the Clinton Campaign and strong attacks aimed at Bernie Sanders.
July 25: Trump takes the lead over Clinton in three national polls: CNN, La Times and the Morning Consult. This comes the same day the Democratic national convention is set to kick off. Trump’s boost is due to a number of factors. The DNCs impartiality, Hillary Clinton’s poor judgment, and possibly the growing threat of ISIS in Germany. Three attacks have plagued Germany since last Thursday. Trump has stressed his ban on refugees from compromised countries of terrorism composition like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The attackers in Germany were Afghan and Syrian. The France attacks in Nice and Paris are also results of an influx of refugees.
The CNN/ORC poll puts Trump in the lead 48% to 45%. When Libertarian Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are added to the ballot, Trump leads by 5 at 44% to 39%.
CBS News has Trump up against Clinton 44% to 43%.
LA Times/USC has Trump up against Clinton 45% to 41%.
The Morning Consult has Trump up by 4 at 44% to 40%.
Gravis has Trump up by 2 at 51% to 49%.
The Democratic Convention will likely give Clinton a slight bump in the polls. Keynote Speakers including Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and President Barack Obama will likely energize the party. The theme for tonight is unity, but it may be more hard-pressed to find. Schultz was booed when trying to address a Sanders crowd in Philadelphia. Protests are expected to be much larger and more dangerous than the ones found in Cleveland.
