TRUMP FALTERS – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:  No doubt about it.   Trump's repeated blunders, and the obvious coolness of Republican leaders toward him, are starting to show up in poll numbers.  From The Politico: 

Faltering support for Donald Trump among voters is boosting Hillary Clinton’s advantage over him, according to a new poll released Thursday.

Clinton leads Trump by three percentage points — 42 percent to 39 percent — among voters nationwide according to the new Fox News poll.

Clinton's lead, which falls within the poll’s margin of error, represents a reversal of fortune for Trump, who held a three-point lead in a different Fox News poll three weeks ago. Since then, Trump’s support has dipped from 45 percent to 39 percent while Clinton’s has remained steady at 42.

Among independents, the news is even worse for Trump, whose support dropped 11 points relative to the previous Fox News poll. Support for the presumptive Republican nominee among voters who identified themselves as Republicans also dropped three points.

COMMENT:  It's that 11-point drop among independents that's devastating.  Trump may go into free fall if he doesn't wise up, start acting like a president, and stop sounding like an organized-crime hit man.

Many Republicans leaders don't like Trump, which is not necessarily a disaster.  The disaster part is that they don't trust him. 

It is probably a fantasy to think that Trump can be denied the Republican nomination.  He won it fair and square by competing in primaries.  But if there was ever a year when a third-party effort could succeed, it's this one.  And yet, no one appears.  What a comment on the state of American leadership.

June 10,  2016