Ron Faucheux: Will this presidential election be a replay of 2016?

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives to speak in New York, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016. Clinton conceded the presidency to Donald Trump in a phone call early Wednesday morning, a stunning end to a campaign that appeared poised right up until Election Day to make her the first woman elected U.

S. president. (AP Photo/ Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save An old saying tells us that history doesn’t repeat, it rhymes.

Will this presidential election rhyme with that of 2016 ? In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton led the national polls at the end of September by three to four points. Her opponent, Donald Trump, focused on carrying a small number of key states that most pundits didn’t think he could win but ultimately did. This year, Kamala Harris similarly leads national polls by three to four points; she also struggles to establish leads in key swing states that will determine the winner.

Polls show Trump leading Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia, albeit by small margins, and the race is about tied in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nevada. Only in Michigan does Harris have much of an edge. Why is Trump doing better in swing states than in the national vote? Television ads may be the answer.

Ron Faucheux Trump’s ad spending targets the swing states and, most importantly, the messaging in those ads is much more disciplined and cogent than what comes from national media coverage of his jumbled speeches, interviews and social media. I.