Voters watch the 2016 US presidential debate. Brennan Linsley AP/Press Association Images. All rights reserved.It would not be accurate to call the recent happenings in the American presidential elections a ‘revolution in the opinion polls’ but rather a ‘trend reversal.’ I would suggest the reason for this is the psychological warfare unleashed on the public during the election campaign. Until fairly recently opinion polls were showing Hillary Clinton with a lead of between 5% and 12%. However, it became clear after the last TV debate that support for Donald Trump has not collapsed to that extent. He has steadied himself and Clinton’s propaganda blitz about his threat not to recognise the election results has not become a consuming firestorm.
As the election approaches the two candidates remain neck and neck in the polls.
There has been a change in the opinion polls which now show near parity. Some analysts argue that Trump was using his statement about the election results to test public feelings and show that democratic processes include the right of appeal. This suggestion recalls the controversial election of George W Bush. The consequence has been that the offensive against him has boomeranged back to the Clinton camp.
