Trump is so weak in polls because of poor media skills

[Bull Moose Base]

This has been my thinking too. Xenophobia/Islamophobia/Immigration hardline stuff unfortunately boosts him, but talking about Hillary's bathroom breaks hurts him.

http://www.vox.com/2015/12/23/10657516/donald-trump-polls

[Maxwell]

Fascinating article! I've been wondering about why support for Trump on the issues is even higher.

[President Johnson]

At first I thought this: Trump will underperform the polling numbers once the voting begins, because a lot of his supporters won't go actually to vote.

But just recently I read another article that he might do even better at the real polls. Sounds reasonable; especially because he's leading by huuuuge numbers on the issues (economy 57% to 8%!).

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

An interesting read, and one with something to it.  I wonder if Trump were to drop the shenanigans and talk more serious policy if he'd shore up his support without losing the enthusiasm of folks who are really OK with his name-calling, etc.

[Mr. Morden]

OK, but if he was less clownish, would poll respondents still think of him first as the person they agree with the most on issues?  His clownishness drives media coverage, which might be what's putting him in first place in all these categories, even if it's also creating a gap between his "issue support" and "voting support".

[Oak Hills]

This makes sense, and the August article is the more interesting one. However, this one paragraph struck me as not fully understanding the phenomenon:

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(emphasis mine)

The reason Trump has gained more traction than Huckabee and Santorum is not actually money--at least not directly. It is his pre-existing national notoriety. Is that partially due to his wealth? Sure. But the real reason he's so famous is because he became a media star a long time ago precisely by acting like this. Plus, his antics during this campaign have driven news coverage, thus making sure he doesn't even need to spend much, if any, money on advertising. If he were just some generic billionaire, he would've had to spend money on advertising. He is beating Santorum and Huckabee, who are both in this year's race, mind you, because his antics earn him more free media and admiration from fans than the former two could ever hope to get. So while this article makes a good point, I do think Trump's antics have helped him to shoot up in the polls as much as he has.