ON POLITICS

For the Record: 45% Trump, 45% Clinton — but 47% 'we hate you both'

Brett McGinness

USA TODAY

Nothing's happening this week on the voting front, with Washington State holding a primary that 1) won't supersede the results of March's Democratic caucuses (a big Bernie Sanders victory), and 2) won't matter on the Republican side, since Donald Trump is the only candidate on the ballot who's still in the running. Why are they even voting on presidential nominees? Great question! The Washington State secretary of state's website even has it as a FAQ. Among the reasons: A lot of people have put a lot of hard work into this, so we're doing it. (We're only mildly paraphrasing.)

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45% Trump, 45% Clinton, 47% 'we hate you both'

"I'm crushing your head."
"No, I'M crushing YOUR head."

Another week begins with more polls showing how tight the race is between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and how disliked they are overall. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll has Hillary out front, 46-43%, while an ABC-Washington Post poll has Trump leading, 46-44%; both polls show respondents with negative views of both candidates exceeding 55%. Similar to other recent polls, Bernie Sanders fares better against Trump than Clinton does. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed that 47% of respondents would be taking a long look at independent or third-party candidates if the race comes down to Clinton and Trump.

The criticism that they share is that they both seem to want the job, which is nearly unforgivable in a nation that regularly tells pollsters it would rather be governed by names selected out of a phone book than actual politicians. That's why everyone was so enamored of Paul Ryan there for a bit, until it looked like he actually wanted the job, at which point we lost all interest. Ultimately, we want to elect a modern-day Cincinnatus as president — tackle the big problems, then hand back the power at first opportunity. Oh, and it would be nice if the candidate would release the transcripts of speeches to the money lenders, and didn't always tell us how fat and ugly the Vestal Virgins are.

Seeing what sticks

Clinton spent the weekend testing out messages that may resonate with undecided voters in the general election, and both were attacks she used against Sanders in the primary election. The first attack: Trump panders to the NRA and the gun lobby. "Unlike Donald Trump, I will not pander to the gun lobby," she said on Saturday. "We will not be silenced and we will not be intimidated." Trump responded on Twitter, saying Hillary should lose her armed bodyguards for her anti-gun stance:

Then on Sunday, Clinton reiterated the call for Trump to release his tax returns, saying it would show the businessman pays little or no taxes. Last week, Slate found the latest Trump tax returns that showed he paid nothing — albeit from 1978-79, before Trump became a billionaire. Will undecided voters want to see if Trump's paying more or less than they are, or will they agree with Trump that it's none of their business?

Hillary Clinton, Mark Cuban play footsie on 'Meet the Press,' Sanders not there yet

"I think Senator Sanders has dragged her a little bit too far to the left ... If she's willing to listen, if she's willing to, you know, hear other sides of things, then I'm wide open to discussing (a vice presidential nomination)." — Mark Cuban, NBC's Meet the Press

"I think we should look widely and broadly. It's not just people in elective office. It is successful businesspeople. I am very interested in that. And I appreciate his openness to it." — Hillary Clinton, NBC's Meet the Press

"It's a little bit early to talk about (being Clinton's running mate)." — Bernie Sanders, ABC's This Week

'You know the presidency? I really really want it!'

SNL's season finale aired this weekend with one more Larry David-as-Bernie Sanders cameo. Only Bernie himself thinks Larry has an outside shot at appearing regularly next season.

For the Record: 45% Trump, 45% Clinton — but 47% 'we hate you both'

45% Trump, 45% Clinton, 47% 'we hate you both'

Seeing what sticks

Hillary Clinton, Mark Cuban play footsie on 'Meet the Press,' Sanders not there yet

More from the campaign trail

'You know the presidency? I really really want it!'