A powerful array of the United States Republican Party’s largest financial backers remains deeply resistant to Mr Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy, forming a wall of opposition that could make it exceedingly hard for him to meet his goal of raising US$1 billion (S$1.38 billion) before the November election.
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Yet Emery, a 52-year-old from the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, can’t commit to voting for her party’s presumptive presidential nominee. Their views are reflected in public opinion polls.
“Ultimately, Donald Trump’s detractors will eagerly support the Republican nominee when they contemplate leaving a legacy of three or more Clinton-appointed Supreme Court justices”, he said.
While white voters continue to abandon the Democrats, small gains with white women could help put the expected Democratic nominee over the top if the election is close.
A super political action committee backing Clinton also released its first television advertisements this week featuring controversial statements Trump has made about women.
Both people seeking the Democratic nomination have raised more than Mr Trump.
“Does Donald Trump really speak for you?” the super PAC ad asks.
On the Washington ballot, Republicans can choose among Trump, and his former challengers Ted Cruz, John Kasich or Ben Carson, who remain on the ballot. “But it’s time we get past all this showmanship and hear from him what he actually wants to do and his plans for how to do it”.
“There’s at least uncertainty about what the impact of Trump’s candidacy would be down ticket, and there’s also a sense that investing in the Senate is an important defensive play”, said Steven J. Law, the president of American Crossroads, a Republican super PAC that was one of the biggest spenders in the 2012 campaign. Some Romney fundraisers say Trump’s brash rhetoric will keep them on the sidelines, complicating his efforts to achieve his $1 billion goal.
Clinton’s hopes will largely hinge on replicating Obama’s coalition of blacks, Hispanics and young people. But she would have more room for error with those groups if she can increase Democrats’ share of white women. Another potential Clinton boon: Many Republican and independent-leaning women with concerns about Trump could stay home. She’s wary of Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, which is the subject of an FBI investigation, and her past political decisions.
In Georgia, Trump supporter Sue Everhart said she talks regularly with suburban Republican women struggling with whether to vote for Trump, and said some cite his boorishness.
“Until we have a better reason to embrace and support the top of the ticket, and see an agenda that is truly an opportunity agenda, then we have lots of other options in which to invest and spend our time helping”, said Betsy DeVos, a Michigan Republican whose family has given almost $9.5 million over the last three elections to party causes and candidates.
More than a dozen of the party’s most reliable individual contributors and wealthy families indicated they would not give to or raise money for Trump.
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Pace reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.
