Next weekâ??s New Hampshire primary will be the first test of Donald Trumpâ??s staying power in a true primary and right now he holds a commanding lead. If the Trumpster holds sway in the Granite State, the Republican primary calendar moves southward to states like South Carolina, where Trump is polling well. But Trumpâ??s momentum and the structure of the GOP primary calendar could be hiding a potential weakness for Trump that may hurt him both in an extended primary fight and in the general election: Catholic voters.
Right now Trump is doing well among less affluent and less educated white voters in the South, Appalachia (West Virginia is his best state) and the Northeast. Catholics are sparse in the first two regions, but heavy in the last, which includes some of the countryâ??s most Catholic states: Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York.
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