ANOTHER POLLS CONFIRMS THE TREND – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  What we're seeing now is one confirming poll after another.  What the polls are telling us is that 1) this presidential race is very close and 2) the American people don't like the choices they're given.  From The Hill: 

Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are disliked by a majority of Americans, according to an NBC News/Survey Monkey poll released Tuesday.

Nearly six in 10 respondents said they either “dislike” or “hate” Clinton, while 63 percent said the same about Trump.

In a hypothetical general election match-up, Clinton leads Trump 47 to 43 percent, a result unchanged from last week.

The former secretary of State also continues to dominate among women, leading Trump by 18 points (54 to 36 percent). She’s also favored by African Americans by an 82-point margin (88 to 6 percent), and leads among Hispanics by 35 points (64 percent to 29 percent).

Still, Trump is winning over a majority of white voters, leading Clinton, 52 to 38 percent.

The online poll of 16,710 people, from May 16 to May 22, has a margin of error of 1 percentage point.

COMMENT:  Those negatives are so staggering that you'd think there'd be many contenders for a third way, a new party or an independent candidate.  It's a steep hill to climb, and raising money would be difficult, but a good third candidacy can shake things up quite a bit this year.  As we've noted before, if a third candidate wins just a handful of states, he or she could throw the election into the House of Representatives, which can elect anyone it wishes.

Sometimes the people's voice speaks in strange ways, but this year I think the message is clear.  In my lifetime I have never seen such discontent with the presumed nominees.  And I don't think Bernie Sanders would improve things for the Dems should Hillary fall completely apart.  When people find out what he really stands for, and when his mean-spiritedness becomes evident, his negatives would soar.

I was at a meeting yesterday of politically active and knowledgeable people.  I've never seen such despair, and even shock, at what is happening.

May 24, 2016