Who is Evan McMullin and how could he stop Donald Trump, you may ask? Well, let me tell you. Evan McMullin is “a former CIA operative, business professional, and the House GOP’s Chief Policy Director” who is running for president of the United States as an independent candidate. You might not have heard of him since he didn’t manage to qualify to be on the presidential ballot in all 50 states and has therefore not gotten as much media coverage as the other candidates. Unfortunately, though (for Donald Trump) McMullin managed to get on Utah’s ballot, and is rising fast in the polls. So fast, he might steal some desperately needed electoral votes from Donald Trump.
The success of Evan Mcmullin’s Campaign is a serious bump in Trump’s road to the White House.
Evan McMullin is a Utah native who has gained a lot of support because of his conservative platform and, frankly, for not being Donald Trump. He has become a welcomed alternative to the Republican Party’s controversial nominee. Evan McMullin is a Mormon, and with Mormons making up more than 60% of Utah’s population he has become their candidate of choice. Many of the state’s most influential political and religious figures have come out against Trump and even called for him to resign as the Republican parties candidate. The fact that McMullin is a Mormon and seen as more trustworthy than Trump has led to Trump losing many of the states usually dominated by loyal Republican supporters. Although Donald Trump is running for the Republican Party, which is a conservative party, he doesn’t resonate with the conservatives in the state of Utah. The many scandals of his campaign like the recently leaked audio from an Access Hollywood interview have damaged his campaign. The fact that Trump is so unpopular in this state has resulted in Evan McMullin taking the lead, showcased in a poll from Emerson College that shows McMullin getting 31% of the votes with Trump trailing behind at 27% and Clinton at 24%. Surprisingly, the politician that ends up stopping Trump might not be Clinton or even Gary Johnson or Jill Stein, but a fellow conservative by the name of Evan McMullin.
“It’s never too late to do the right thing.” -Evan McMullin
The reason that this is troubling for Donald Trump is that Utah shouldn’t be troubling. Donald Trump should be winning it easily. Utah is about as red of a state as you can get, with Romney winning it by a significant margin in 2012, the governor being Republican and all of the senate and house of representative seats going to Republicans. Donald Trump’s path to victory is narrow, and he needs every electoral vote that he can get. Therefore, he can’t afford to lose Utah. With less than three weeks left before the election, this is coming at a terrible time for the Trump campaign, which needs to focus on battleground states like Pennsylvania and Florida.
So is Evan McMullin going to continue to keep the lead in Utah all the way until the election? Maybe. Maybe not. What is certain though is that if he does, he has a real shot at damaging Donald Trump’s chances of becoming president. Just the fact that the Trump campaign will have to spend time, energy, and money in a state which they should already have locked down is enough to hurt Trump’s campaign. Evan McMullin has a real chance of being the final nail in the coffin of a Donald Trump candidacy.
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