Message Problem vs. Demographic Problem

First Read: “Less than six months before Election Day, the 2016 presidential contest could very well hinge on who has the more debilitating problem — Hillary Clinton’s lack of a message, or Donald Trump’s poor performance among non-white males. Let’s start with Clinton’s message problem. By now, you know Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan or Bernie Sanders’ ‘A Future You Can Believe In.’ But what is Clinton’s simple message? Her campaign says its podium-sign version is ‘Breaking Down Barriers,’ but that isn’t as central and identifiable as Trump’s and Sanders’ simple messages.”

“Meanwhile, Trump’s problem is a demographic one: According to April’s national NBC/WSJ poll, 69% of women, 79% of Latinos, and 88% of African Americans have a negative opinion of Trump, and those are the same demographic groups that Republicans insisted they needed to improve with after their loss to Obama in 2012. So that’s your ’16 contest in a nutshell: Which problem is worse to have – lacking a clear message or being toxic among minorities and women? We’ll find out in November.”