
<p>We are now seeing the closing wake of President Trump’s conviction in the hush money case, and better able to see its impact – or more accurately, the lack thereof.</p>



<p>President Biden, Democrat leaders and operatives, and the left leaning media had been predicting that a conviction would finally be the event to pull the support out from under Trump. It was the same narrative they used in advance of the announcements of the criminal investigation &#8230; and again in advance of any indictment &#8230; and again of any trials before Election Day &#8212; and again when he lost the E. Jean Carroll case.</p>



<p>To say Biden &; Co. were disappointed that none of those events cut into Trump’s polling numbers is a gross understatement. ; They were shocked, dismayed, perplexed and any other similar word a Thesaurus would contribute. ; No matter how many times their hope-based predictions failed to come to fruition, they proceed to make the same predictions of some future event – the debate being the next opportunity</p>



<p>A conviction will cause the collapse of Trump’s support, they opined. But it never happened. ; And no matter how many times Democrats were told that the unprecedented demonizing of Trump was supercharging his campaign, they continued to follow their misguided strategy. ;</p>



<p>Prior to Trump’s recent conviction, Democrat politicians, pundits and press were predicting that THIS TIME would be different. THIS TIME voters will abandon Trump in droves and the big donors will be putting away their wallets – and small donations would dry up. People will not put a convicted felon in the Oval Office, they declared with a sense of certainty. </p>



<p>In making their latest predictions, Biden &; Co. cited polls indicating that 10 percent – or more – of Trump voters would be less likely to cast a ballot for Trump if he were convicted.</p>



<p>So, what happened THIS TIME?</p>



<p>Whether justified or not, politicians and pundits look at fundraising as an existential issue. ; In analyzing a campaign, money raised and on hand are noteworthy statistics.</p>



<p>Weeell &#8230; Trump’s donations did not wither away after the conviction. They soared. Trump raised a record $171 million since the conviction – far outpacing Biden’s $50 million dollars in the same period. In the past two months, Trump has raised more than Biden for the first time. Also, for the first time, Trump has more money on hand than Biden. In a short time, Trump has whipped out Biden’s money advantage. That does not sound like a candidate who is losing ground.</p>



<p>So, what about the polls?</p>



<p>In the most recent national polls, Biden and Trump are exchanging the top polling spot from day to day within the margins of error. ; In a recent FOX News poll, Biden squeaked past Trump 50 percent to 48 percent. ; Past FOX polls had Trump ahead. ; A PBS poll showed the national race as dead even at 49 percent each. ; But that is an improvement for Trump. ; The PBS polls over the past year had shown Biden ahead every time – and occasionally by as much as 4 points. ; The fact that the latest post-conviction poll shows them even is a gain for Trump.</p>



<p>More importantly, Trump continues to lead in virtually all the battleground states by margins of 2 to 5 points. That gives Trump all the electoral votes he needs to win the election. ; If the election were being held today, Trump would win. ; So sayeth pundits on both sides.</p>



<p>Trump’s fundraising clearly improved following the conviction ;  ;I would say that his polling numbers improved a smidgeon. ; Not enough to make the improvement notable or meaningful, however. ; The bad news for Biden is that Trump’s conviction did not result in any bad news for Trump, who did not suffer any apparent loss in support from the conviction. ;</p>



<p>And what is that sound you hear? ; That is the Biden chorus predicting that THIS TIME the upcoming debate will be the game changer – you know, just like the State of the Union speech in January.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

The conviction has not hurt Trump
