Dems Fret Over Trump Bounce

By Alexander Bolton  The Hill   PHILADELPHIA Democrats are alarmed over a cluster of new polls showing Donald Trump enjoying a healthy bounce in support after the Cleveland convention. Worried Democrats say they thought some of the dark" themes that Trump and his allies raised in Cleveland wouldnt gain traction in modern-day America. Yet a flurry of polls have suggested Trump is ahead or in a dead heat with presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Some Democrats cant believe they are in a close race. It shouldnt be this close. I dont think theres any question that the closeness of this race is cause for everybody to concern himself and recommit themselves to this campaign" Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said Monday afternoon. A new CNN/ORC poll shows Trump benefiting from a 10-point swing in support putting him 3 points ahead of Clinton 48-45. A CNN/ORC poll from mid July showed Clinton with a seven-point lead. A new CBS News survey shows Trump leading 44 percent to 43 percent and an LA Times/USC poll shows him with a 45 to 41 percent advantage. The latest round of polls follows a survey released by Quinnipiac University earlier this month showing Trump up by three points in Florida and two points in Pennsylvania two states that President Obama carried in 2008 and 2012. Senate Democrats expressed their jitters over polling data during a meeting with Clinton at the Capitol earlier this month where some lawmakers freaked out" according to a Democratic senator who attended. Whats rattling Democrats this week is evidence that voters are responding to what Clinton last week called a dark picture of an America in decline" painted by Trump. A large number of us this morning were talking about things we thought were long gone out of the hearts for Americans" Cleaver said. Hillary Clinton bashing was a central theme of the GOP convention last week which focused on the presumptive Democratic nominees handling of the 2012 Benghazi attacks her evolving positions on various issues and her use of a private email server as secretary of State. Republicans in Cleveland poured their invective on Clinton throughout the week frequently chanting Lock her up!" One GOP delegate went so far to say Clinton should be shot for treason" because of Benghazi though party leaders immediately disavowed him. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said he was not surprised to see Trumps public support jump after the convention. He warned that Democrats cant take anything for granted. It doesnt surprise me. I think people get bumps after conventions" he said. I think its going to be a close race. Thats why I think every vote is really important." Engel said the GOP convention wasnt as negative as some fellow Democrats portrayed it. I dont think it was doom and gloom. I think they were pretty good in keeping their people in check" he said. But Engel predicted that Clinton will get her own bump from the Philadelphia convention and expressed relief that Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) has decided to endorse Clinton. A Democratic strategist and fundraiser who requested anonymity said if the polls are the same after the convention there will be more to worry about. Ask me to take a look at the polls a week into August. Then well take a harder look. Everyone knew from Day One this was going to be tough race so no one is hitting the panic button yet" he said. But some Democrats are worried that Sanderss endorsement wont sway his angry supporters who are outraged over leaked emails showing that Democratic National Committee staff were biased in favor of Hillary Clinton during the primary. Sanders supporters booed Monday when he asked them in a private meeting to back Clinton. They also protested the Florida delegation breakfast at the downtown Marriott hotel to shout down outgoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. They dont seem to respond to him anymore" Cleaver observed. Trump has tried to woo disaffected working-class voters who backed Sanders to jump to his campaign using Wasserman Schultz the DNCs controversial chairwoman as a wedge. Ive seen first hand how the system is rigged against our citizens just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders" Trump said during his Thursday acceptance speech a comment that seemed prescient coming a day before the DNC email scandal exploded in the press Friday.