--- title: Donald Trump Can Still Win the Election description: Voters are more concerned with Hillary Clinton's emails than they are with his tax returns. He just needs to overcome... himself. canonical: https://time.com/4463751/donald-trump-victory-hurdle/ author: Frank Luntz article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-23T22:03:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:13.579Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How Donald Trump May Win Yet og:description: Clinton is beatable. There's only one problem... og:url: https://time.com/4463751/donald-trump-victory-hurdle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Donald Trump May Win Yet twitter:description: Clinton is beatable. There's only one problem... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # How Donald Trump May Win Yet > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Donald Trump's Meltdown [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump's Meltdown](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZnrBU8IB.m3u8) (2:50)  _Published 2016-08-10. Following his acceptance of the presidential nomination for the Republican party, Donald Trump has made a number of political gaffes._ by [Frank Luntz](https://time.com/author/frank-luntz/) ## Frank Luntz Aug 23, 2016 10:03 PM UTC by [Frank Luntz](https://time.com/author/frank-luntz/) ## Frank Luntz Aug 23, 2016 10:03 PM UTC Will the real Donald Trump please stand up? That’s the question uncommitted voters in my focus groups and polls are asking. Is he the “authentic truth teller” who “isn’t beholden to the special interests,” and “will bring about the change America desperately needs?” Or is he the Trump they’ve grown tired of and don’t trust to represent their country? The “rude, reckless, narcissist” who “acts more like a 12-year child than someone who can be trusted to be Commander-in-Chief,” who “makes it all about himself, when it should be about us”? Welcome to the [Bizzaro World that is Donald Trump’s campaign](http://time.com/4346173/clinton-trump-election-hell/). As always, those are America’s words, not mine. They come straight from a session for [CBS News with 24 uncommitted voters](http://www.cbsnews.com/live/video/frank-luntz-runs-focus-group-on-trump-vs-clinton/) in the suburbs of Philadelphia who are essential in making Pennsylvania flip from Democrat to Republican for the first time since 1988\. This was supposed to be Trump’s poster child for a promised seismic shift in the electoral map. He promised the world that we would see his awesome electoral power and huge grassroots support manifest itself in this state. So far, there hasn’t been a tremor. All across the country, Trump continues to slip and slide. In fact, if the election were held today, Clinton would receive 350 electoral votes—a genuine landslide. But if these undecideds and the voters I have recently listened to in the critical states of Ohio and Florida are any indication, Trump can still win… as long as he can overcome his greatest enemy. No, it’s not Hillary Clinton. She’s actually the weakest and most beatable Democratic nominee since Walter Mondale in 1984\. Trump’s greatest enemy is himself—and his own mouth. If he becomes truly disciplined in his communication, and if he learns that silence can often be his greatest ally, he can win this race. [**_Read: Frank Luntz Debunks the Myth of the Undecided Voter_**](http://time.com/4424053/frank-luntz-the-myth-of-the-undecided-voter/) The overarching mood of the American people is still squarely in Trump’s orbit. Nearly 70 percent believe the country is seriously off on the wrong track—and have felt that way for almost a decade. Even with the drop in unemployment, a majority still say “they are living paycheck-to-paycheck, struggling to get by.” And more than half the country believes their children and the next generation will have it worse than them. Despite the best efforts by the Democrats to promote a more favorable view of the status quo, the country is still squarely on the side of change. But what undecided voters, disaffected Republicans and ex-Trump supporters don’t want—and will not support—is his penchant for insulting his way into the headlines. Low Energy Jeb, Little Marco and Lying Ted got him to where he is today: a billionaire in business and the nominee of the Republican Party, yet it won’t get him to the White House. [The polls aren’t rigged](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-presidential-election-process-20160812-snap-htmlstory.html). It is the candidate who is flawed. Sure, the initial off-the-cuff, “Let Trump Be Trump” approach did its job. The debate-bomb-throwing, media-cycle-dominating, speech-on-a-sticky-note strategy cleared the field in an overcrowded Republican primary, and built him a large and loyal base of support. But that doesn’t work with independents, moderates, and those whose highest priority for the next president is “getting things done.” He doesn’t need to soften his stances or even his standard, stock stump speech. Instead, he needs to put a definitive end to the gaffes and the unforced errors. No more riffing. No more labeling. No more uber-personalized attacks. No more open admiration of dictators who mean America ill, just because they’re “strong.” These comments sour even his strongest supporters. In all of our research over the past 30 days, the event that hurt him the most was his criticism of the Gold Star Kahn family—even among Republican-leaning voters who support him. The media covered the story extensively, and yet I believe they still underrepresented just how offensive his comments were to the American people. In my focus groups, people still get visibly angry and emotional about it. It was an unnecessary miscalculation, validating their concerns that deep down, maintaining his ego matters more to Trump than the America he says he wants to rebuild. Conversely, in Hillary Clinton, Americans have come to believe that she simply cannot and/or will not tell the truth—on anything. Just a third of the electorate believes she has the honesty and integrity needed to be president—the weakest result for any frontrunner in modern times. Who can blame them? Week after week, month after month, from emails to family foundations, she’s questioned about her actions and either answers them poorly or refuses to answer at all. Our uncommitted voters use just two words to describe her—“liar” and “dishonest”—and that explains why she’s only five points up over her opponent. The legendary [American journalist Bob Woodward ](https://newrepublic.com/article/76936/earthquake)provided me a brilliant idea to ask the CBS focus group: “As you decide whom to support, would you rather see Trump’s unreleased tax returns, or Hillary Clinton’s unreleased State Department emails?” Almost unanimously they chose the Clinton emails. Trump’s tax returns are of personal interest, but Clinton’s emails are a matter of national interest. So instead of calling her Crooked Hillary, all Trump has to do is ask a simple question: “If she doesn’t trust you with the truth, how can you trust her with your country?” There are only 75 days left, and the voters who care more about candidate character and getting things done are increasingly angry that they have to choose between—in their words—the candidate says stupid things (Trump) or the candidate who does criminal things (Clinton). For the candidate who doesn’t know the laws, or thinks she is above the laws? The fact is, the majority of Americans still want to vote for change, which means voting _against_ Hillary Clinton. They’re just increasingly sure that they don’t want to vote _for_ Donald Trump. They are desperate for their voice to be heard in Washington, but they’re not convinced that either candidate is listening. They know Clinton has a plan, but they don’t trust its author. They want Trump to have a plan, yet they don’t see it or hear it. As a former and perhaps future Trump voter in the CBS focus group told me, “Trump needs to conduct his campaign with respect, like the job interview that it’s meant to be.” Americans don’t want a bully behind the bully pulpit; they want a president in the Oval Office. ## Transcript I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States. Why did Hillary get rid of her middle name? Hillary, no but why did she get rid of it? Hillary Rotten Clinton. She'll go home, she'll take a nap for four or five hours, then she'll come back. No naps for Trump! No nap! I don't take naps! Her running mate, Tim Kaine, who by the way did a terrible job in New Jersey, first act he did in New Jersey. Was asked for a $ 4 billion tax increase and he was not very popular in New Jersey. If you look at his wife she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. But he made a deal with the devil. She's the devil. He made a deal with the devil. Thousands of people outside, thousands, that were turned away by For political reasons. Purely for political reasons. Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the second amendment. By the way and if she get's to pick, if she get's to pick Her judges, nothing you can do folks. [ APPLAUSE ] Although the second amendment people maybe there is I don't know. [ APPLAUSE ] But I tell you what that will be a horrible day. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4463751/donald-trump-victory-hurdle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4463751/donald-trump-victory-hurdle/"},"headline":"How Donald Trump May Win Yet","datePublished":"2016-08-23T22:03:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:13.579Z","description":"Clinton is beatable. 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