2016 Polls: Brexit Issues Driving Voters in Battleground States

It’s still a long way to November and Hillary Clinton still has the media in her purse, millions of dollar to blow on her campaign while the proles continue to get more and more restless. But no matter what, A) this election goes beyond electing Donald Trump, and B) you can’t deny we live in interesting times.

CBS releases 2016 polls from battleground states like Florida, Colorado, and Wisconsin, showing that a significant number of voters are sympathetic to messages similar to the successful “Brexit” campaign in the UK’s EU Referendum.

Battleground states are called battlegrounds for a reason: They’re often close, and 2016 looks like no exception.

Hillary Clinton holds narrow leads over Donald Trump across a number of key states of Florida (up three points, 44 to 41 percent); Colorado (Clinton 40 percent, Trump 39 percent); Wisconsin (Clinton up 41 percent to 36 percent) and North Carolina, which has flipped back and forth between the parties in the last two elections, where it’s Clinton 44 percent and Trump 42 percent.

In the wake of the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom this week, many wondered if the same sentiments that drove voters to leave the UK, such as voter unease about the economic and cultural effects of globalization, were at work in the U.S. presidential election, too.

Similar sentiments underpin Donald Trump’s general election vote, though there is not yet enough for him to surpass Clinton. Trump is also competitive in large part because of partisanship, as rank-and file Republicans continue to get behind him, even as Republican leaders have been more lukewarm toward the way Trump is running his campaign.

About one-third of voters in these states feel the U.S. has done too much in trying to become part of the global economy; too much to make changes to its culture and values, and encouraged too much diversity of people from different backgrounds. Those sentiments are especially pronounced among Republicans and conservatives in these battleground states, majorities of whom feel that way. And those voters are overwhelmingly supporting Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.

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2016-06-26