A new Public Policy Polling (PPP) poll found Hillary Clinton leading in North Carolina for the first time since early Spring, but it also found something else amusing.
While 69 percent of Republican voters believe Hillary Clinton is going to steal the election, a significant portion of them believe a specific, non-existent organization is going to steal it for her.
-69% of Trump voters think that if Hillary Clinton wins the election it will be because it was rigged, to only 16% who think it would be because she got more vote than Trump. More specifically 40% of Trump voters think that ACORN (which hasn't existed in years) will steal the election for Clinton. That shows the long staying power of GOP conspiracy theories.
As you know, ACORN was defunded and closed six years ago.
Is ACORN going to rig the election from beyond the grave? Is ACORN going to rig the 2020 and 2024 elections as well?
Given the high number of self-identified Republicans who believe the election will be rigged, I wonder to what extent that may depress conservative voter turnout. Why bother voting if it's going to be rigged anyway, right?
Some are speculating that Trump is laying the groundwork for congressional Republicans to obstruct the Clinton administration by claiming the election will be rigged, but I don't necessarily buy that because I believe most congressional Republicans will be just as glad as anyone if Trump loses.
With that said, Republicans are going to do whatever they can to obstruct the Clinton administration. They don't need a conspiracy theory to do it.
The PPP poll of North Carolina also found that voters would prefer a third term of the Obama presidency over Trump. For Trump to say that a Clinton presidency would be a "third term for Obama" does not seem like an effective attack. President Obama has some of the highest approval ratings in the country.