DONALD TRUMP IS IN SECOND PLACE IN A NEW POLL OF THE 2016 REPUBLICAN FIELD IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Now, look. There are lots of reasons to think that the Suffolk poll is simply the latest in a series of surveys -- both in key states and nationally -- where a recently announced candidate for the Republican presidential nomination sees a short-term boost before falling back to earth.
The poll was conducted June 18-22, a period that followed Trump's June 16 announcement that he would run. That announcement drew wall-to-wall coverage on TV -- Trump IS really good at getting attention -- and likely boosted the curiosity factor around Trump in New Hampshire and elsewhere.
Other data points in the poll suggest that Trump has no real path much beyond being a curiosity. Almost half of Republicans (49 percent) had an unfavorable view of Trump, but 60 percent said they would like to see him on a debate stage. The only conclusion you can draw from numbers like those is that Trump is sort of like the political version of the Kardashians -- people say they can't stand him but they also can't seem to take their eyes off him. I've called him the car-accident candidate before -- you don't want to slow down and look but you always do -- and this Suffolk poll affirms that status.
But, but but. Let's not let New Hampshire off so easily.
Eleven percent percent of likely New Hampshire primary voters affirmatively told a pollster that, yes, Donald Trump was their preferred candidate to be the Republican nominee. Heck, Trump LED the field among self-identified conservatives with 13 percent of the primary vote.
New Hampshire. I love you. I did a top 10 list of all the great things about you. I wrote an appreciation of your state.
But, seriously? Eleven percent of you want this guy?
Everybody gets a mulligan. This is yours.