POOR MITT ROMNEY …
In the highly unlikely – and yet now increasingly likely – event that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump were to have a path to victory in several critical swing states, establishment Republicans knew they would need another way to cripple his candidacy.
Their play? The “independent” campaign of former CIA official Evan McMullin – a Mormon from Utah who entered the race with the sole objective of capturing what has been the most reliably Republican state in the union.
As recently as two weeks ago, this plan was working …
A poll released by Emerson College (.pdf) on October 21 showed McMullin drawing 31 percent in Utah compared to Trump’s 27 percent and Clinton’s 24 percent.
Just as the tide has turned in the swing states, though, it has turned in Utah.
According to a Rasmussen Reports survey released on Thursday, Trump is now firmly in command in Utah – enjoying a 42-31 percent edge over Clinton.
McMullin? He’s now in third place with 21 percent of the vote.
McMullin’s campaign – buttressed by the ferocious #NeverTrump harangues of 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney – was supposed to deny Trump the state’s six electoral votes.
Looks like the Mormon insurgency is collapsing, though …
“As in other parts of the country, Utah Republicans appear to be coming home to Trump as his race with Clinton tightens following the announcement that the FBI has reopened its investigation of her mishandling of classified documents,” Rasmussen’s pollsters noted.
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