Trump’s Rust Belt Revival

Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton in Ohio by 5 percent in both the head-to-head matchup and the four-way race, according to a new Bloomberg Politics poll released Wednesday.

The poll may indicate the Republican nominee’s populist message on fighting for working Americans and making immigration and trade policies work in their favor is resonating with Rust Belt voters.

“Donald Trump is bringing new people to the Republican Party. There are a lot of blue-collar Ohioans who are receptive to his message on issues like trade and immigration.”

“Donald Trump is bringing new people to the Republican Party,” Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan told LifeZette in a statement. “There are a lot of blue-collar Ohioans who are receptive to his message on issues like trade and immigration.”

Eddie Zipperer, Assistant Professor for Political Science at Georgia Military College, says these are the people who have been hurt most by the globalist policies pushed by President Obama and the Clintons.

“Right now, Trump’s message on trade – specifically the TPP- is really resonating in the Rust Belt where people have been most harmed by NAFTA and other trade agreements that caused the U.S. to start hemmoraging manufacturing jobs,” Zipperer said.

In addition to Trump breaking through on the issues, Jordan pointed to greater GOP unity as a factor in the Republican nominee’s Ohio fortunes.

“As you see more and more Republicans come together behind our nominee, I think you will see his numbers continue to solidify,” Jordan said.

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The Bloomberg poll is among the first conducted in the aftermath of Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comments uttered during a Sept. 9 fundraiser. The Democratic nominee received swift and severe backlash for dumping “half” of Trump’s supporters into a basket filled with deplorables who were “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and Islamaphobic.” Trump has seized on that opportunity to reintroduce himself as the “people’s champion” — in contrast to Clinton, whom he called a “political insider” who was driven by “arrogance and entitlement.”

The last public poll taken of Ohio voters on Sept. 9 by CBS/YouGov found Clinton ahead of Trump by 7 points, 46 to 39 percent. The Bloomberg poll released Wednesday suggests Trump may have garnered a 12-point swing in his favor, in less than one week, after Clinton’s “deplorables” comments first caught fire.

The most recent public polls in Rust Belt cousins of Ohio, including Michigan and Wisconsin, were taken before Clinton’s gaffe and showed Trump within 5 and 3 points of Clinton respectively. If those states experience a similar swing, Trump could suddenly be looking 44 electoral votes richer in the Rust Belt.

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“Hillary Clinton spoke with hatred and derision for the people who make this country run. She spoke with contempt for the people who thanklessly follow the rules, pay their taxes, and scratch out a living for their families,” Trump said during a Monday afternoon speech in Baltimore. “You cannot run for president if you have such contempt in your heart for the American voter.”

The issue that likely Ohio voters said they cared about most included “unemployment and jobs” at 36 percent, “a decline in real income for American workers,” tied with “health care” at 17 percent each. A struggling economy and concern over the cost and availability of healthcare are issues the current administration owns the blame for — the same administration Clinton has pledged to bring into a third term.

The Bloomberg poll also shows terrible news for Democrats’ hope to retake control of the U.S. Senate. Republican incumbent Sen. Rob Portman is roasting his opponent, former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. While Portman sailed away with 53 percent of likely voters polled, Strickland has slipped 17 points behind with a mere 36 percent — in a race once thought to be 2016’s marquee Senate contest.