Rigged elections? Nasty woman? Trump's scorched earth tactics have little upside(Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump had one last chance at a nationally televised debate to reach out to the undecided voters he badly needs to keep his presidential campaign viable.  He passed on the opportunity. Instead, he chose on Wednesday to stay with the strategy he has employed during recent weeks: Pump up his hard-core supporters and hope that’s enough to win.  He suggested he might not accept the election result if his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton wins on Nov. 8, called her a “nasty woman,” and repeated hard-line conservative positions on issues such as abortion and immigration.  While that kind of rhetoric was catnip to his passionate, anti-establishment base, it is unlikely to have appealed to independent voters and women who have yet to choose a candidate. “When you’re trailing in the polls, you don’t need a headline the next morning saying that you’re not going to accept the election results,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist who supports Trump. With less than three weeks left in the race, Trump is behind Clinton in most battleground states and is underperforming in almost every demographic voter group compared to the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, four years ago. Party strategists had said before the debate that he needed to use the event to draw in voters beyond his hard-core supporters.  Trump didn’t listen or perhaps didn’t care. His debate was a continuation of his apparent strategy to ensure his most fervent supporters show up on Election Day, while betting that his attacks on Clinton’s character and truthfulness will discourage voting by already skeptical young and liberal Democrats. But experts who study voter behavior warned that his attacks on Clinton may backfire, saying he may instead awaken Democratic voters who have so far been uninspired by Clinton. “The risk he faces by engaging in a scorched-earth policy is that he activates people rather than turning them off,” said Michael McDonald, who runs the U.S. Election Project at the University of Florida. McDonald, who tracks early voting returns and absentee ballot requests, said he is seeing larger than expected surges of support for Clinton in southeastern states such as Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. The Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project, which uses a massive online opinion poll to project election outcomes in all 50 states, estimates that Clinton has a 95 percent chance of winning the election by about 118 votes in the Electoral College if it were held today. It is against this backdrop that Trump has apparently decided to double down on energizing his base rather than broadening it. But the poll results cast doubt on the wisdom of that strategy. If Trump’s core white, male, working class supporters vote at high rates, as expected, that likely won’t be enough to win. Trump, for example, already does well with white men who are at retirement age. Nine out of 10 of them are already expected to vote, according to the polling results, so, there is little room to squeeze out more votes. Voting rights activists have accused Trump of trying to suppress voter turnout by claiming, without evidence, that the election has been rigged against him. He has also said his supporters need to monitor polling stations to ensure a fair vote, which the activists decry as an act of intimidation.  Should Trump’s comments succeed in discouraging some Democratic voters from turning out, that may also not be enough to help him secure the White House. He still loses under what could be considered a dream scenario for the Republican nominee: white men show up in greater numbers than expected, while turnout among racial minorities is lower than expected. In this scenario, the States of the Nation project estimates that Trump would win the battleground states of Ohio and North Carolina, and he would have a shot at winning Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Colorado. Even then, Clinton would still have an 82 percent chance of winning the election. There’s yet another risk to Trump’s strategy. By claiming the election is rigged, he could be unintentionally signaling to his supporters that voting no longer matters. Michael Sopko, 63, a mortgage broker from Denver and a Trump backer, said before the debate that he sees his vote as pointless. “They have already been corrupted,” he said of voting machines, speaking ahead of a Trump rally in Colorado Springs. “I think the results are already cast.” politicsNews
rigged elections nasty woman trump scored earth tactics little upside reuters republican donald trump one last chance nationally televised debate reach undecided voters badly needs keep presidential campaign viable he passed opportunity instead chose wednesday stay strategy employed recent weeks pump supporters hope enough win he suggested might accept election result democratic opponent hillary clinton wins called nasty woman repeated conservative positions issues abortion immigration while kind rhetoric catid passionate base unlikely appealed independent voters women yet choose candidate when trailing polls need headline next morning saying going accept election results said ford o cornell republican strategist supports trump with less three weeks left race trump behind clinton battleground states underperforming almost every demographic voter group compared republican nominee mitt romney four years ago party strategist said debate needed use event draw voters beyond supporters trump listen perhaps care his debate continuation apparent strategy ensure fervent supporters show election day betting attacks clinton character truthfulness discourage voting already skeptical young liberal democrats but experts study voter behavior warned attacks clinton may backfires saying may instead awaken democratic voters far inspired clinton the risk faces engaging policy activates people rather turning said michael mcdonald runs election project university florida mcdonald tracks early voting returns absentee ballot requests said seeing larger expected surges support clinton southeastern states virginia north carolina florida the states nation project uses massive online opinion poll project election outcomes states estimates clinton percent chance winning election votes electoral college held today it backdrop trump apparently decided double energizing base rather broadening but poll results cast doubt wisdom strategy if trump core white male working class supporters vote high rates expected likely enough win trump example already well white men retirement age nine already expected vote according polling results little room squeeze votes voting rights activists accused trump trying suppress voter turnout claiming without evidence election rigged he also said supporters need monitor polling stations ensure fair vote activists decay act intimidation should trump comments succeed discouraging democratic voters turning may also enough help secure white house he still loses could considered dream scenario republican nominee white men show greater numbers expected turnout among racial minorities lower expected in scenario states nation project estimates trump would win battleground states ohio north carolina would shot winning pennsylvania wisconsin colorado even clinton would still percent chance winning election there yet another risk trump strategy by claiming election rigged could unintentionally signaling supporters voting longer matters michael solo mortgage broker denver trump backer said debate sees vote pointless they already corrupted said voting machines speaking ahead trump rally colorado springs i think results already politicsnews
Your task is to classify the provided input as real or fake news. Label 0 is meant for fake news, Label 1 is for real news. TEXT: Rigged elections? Nasty woman? Trump's scorched earth tactics have little upside(Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump had one last chance at a nationally televised debate to reach out to the undecided voters he badly needs to keep his presidential campaign viable.  He passed on the opportunity. Instead, he chose on Wednesday to stay with the strategy he has employed during recent weeks: Pump up his hard-core supporters and hope that’s enough to win.  He suggested he might not accept the election result if his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton wins on Nov. 8, called her a “nasty woman,” and repeated hard-line conservative positions on issues such as abortion and immigration.  While that kind of rhetoric was catnip to his passionate, anti-establishment base, it is unlikely to have appealed to independent voters and women who have yet to choose a candidate. “When you’re trailing in the polls, you don’t need a headline the next morning saying that you’re not going to accept the election results,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist who supports Trump. With less than three weeks left in the race, Trump is behind Clinton in most battleground states and is underperforming in almost every demographic voter group compared to the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, four years ago. Party strategists had said before the debate that he needed to use the event to draw in voters beyond his hard-core supporters.  Trump didn’t listen or perhaps didn’t care. His debate was a continuation of his apparent strategy to ensure his most fervent supporters show up on Election Day, while betting that his attacks on Clinton’s character and truthfulness will discourage voting by already skeptical young and liberal Democrats. But experts who study voter behavior warned that his attacks on Clinton may backfire, saying he may instead awaken Democratic voters who have so far been uninspired by Clinton. “The risk he faces by engaging in a scorched-earth policy is that he activates people rather than turning them off,” said Michael McDonald, who runs the U.S. Election Project at the University of Florida. McDonald, who tracks early voting returns and absentee ballot requests, said he is seeing larger than expected surges of support for Clinton in southeastern states such as Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. The Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project, which uses a massive online opinion poll to project election outcomes in all 50 states, estimates that Clinton has a 95 percent chance of winning the election by about 118 votes in the Electoral College if it were held today. It is against this backdrop that Trump has apparently decided to double down on energizing his base rather than broadening it. But the poll results cast doubt on the wisdom of that strategy. If Trump’s core white, male, working class supporters vote at high rates, as expected, that likely won’t be enough to win. Trump, for example, already does well with white men who are at retirement age. Nine out of 10 of them are already expected to vote, according to the polling results, so, there is little room to squeeze out more votes. Voting rights activists have accused Trump of trying to suppress voter turnout by claiming, without evidence, that the election has been rigged against him. He has also said his supporters need to monitor polling stations to ensure a fair vote, which the activists decry as an act of intimidation.  Should Trump’s comments succeed in discouraging some Democratic voters from turning out, that may also not be enough to help him secure the White House. He still loses under what could be considered a dream scenario for the Republican nominee: white men show up in greater numbers than expected, while turnout among racial minorities is lower than expected. In this scenario, the States of the Nation project estimates that Trump would win the battleground states of Ohio and North Carolina, and he would have a shot at winning Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Colorado. Even then, Clinton would still have an 82 percent chance of winning the election. There’s yet another risk to Trump’s strategy. By claiming the election is rigged, he could be unintentionally signaling to his supporters that voting no longer matters. Michael Sopko, 63, a mortgage broker from Denver and a Trump backer, said before the debate that he sees his vote as pointless. “They have already been corrupted,” he said of voting machines, speaking ahead of a Trump rally in Colorado Springs. “I think the results are already cast.” politicsNews
Your task is to classify the provided input as real or fake news. Label 0 is meant for fake news, Label 1 is for real news. TEXT: rigged elections nasty woman trump scored earth tactics little upside reuters republican donald trump one last chance nationally televised debate reach undecided voters badly needs keep presidential campaign viable he passed opportunity instead chose wednesday stay strategy employed recent weeks pump supporters hope enough win he suggested might accept election result democratic opponent hillary clinton wins called nasty woman repeated conservative positions issues abortion immigration while kind rhetoric catid passionate base unlikely appealed independent voters women yet choose candidate when trailing polls need headline next morning saying going accept election results said ford o cornell republican strategist supports trump with less three weeks left race trump behind clinton battleground states underperforming almost every demographic voter group compared republican nominee mitt romney four years ago party strategist said debate needed use event draw voters beyond supporters trump listen perhaps care his debate continuation apparent strategy ensure fervent supporters show election day betting attacks clinton character truthfulness discourage voting already skeptical young liberal democrats but experts study voter behavior warned attacks clinton may backfires saying may instead awaken democratic voters far inspired clinton the risk faces engaging policy activates people rather turning said michael mcdonald runs election project university florida mcdonald tracks early voting returns absentee ballot requests said seeing larger expected surges support clinton southeastern states virginia north carolina florida the states nation project uses massive online opinion poll project election outcomes states estimates clinton percent chance winning election votes electoral college held today it backdrop trump apparently decided double energizing base rather broadening but poll results cast doubt wisdom strategy if trump core white male working class supporters vote high rates expected likely enough win trump example already well white men retirement age nine already expected vote according polling results little room squeeze votes voting rights activists accused trump trying suppress voter turnout claiming without evidence election rigged he also said supporters need monitor polling stations ensure fair vote activists decay act intimidation should trump comments succeed discouraging democratic voters turning may also enough help secure white house he still loses could considered dream scenario republican nominee white men show greater numbers expected turnout among racial minorities lower expected in scenario states nation project estimates trump would win battleground states ohio north carolina would shot winning pennsylvania wisconsin colorado even clinton would still percent chance winning election there yet another risk trump strategy by claiming election rigged could unintentionally signaling supporters voting longer matters michael solo mortgage broker denver trump backer said debate sees vote pointless they already corrupted said voting machines speaking ahead trump rally colorado springs i think results already politicsnews