The latest polls in the normally bright red states of Utah and Texas can give you a good idea of just how much trouble Donald Trump is in. In a normal year, the Republican presidential candidate could spend his time in the battleground (swing) states -- knowing that the red states were safe. That's not the case this year.
The top chart shows the latest results from a poll in Utah by the Deseret News. It shows Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton tied at 26% each. No one could have guessed several months ago that Clinton would have any chance of carrying Utah, but that is now a reality.
The chart below is from a new Texas CBS 11 / Dixie Strategies Poll. It was done between September 29th and October 1st of a random sample of 780 likely Texas voters, with a margin of error of 3.51 points. It shows Trump has slightly less than a 7 point lead in Texas -- far less than any Republican presidential candidate in many years.
The fact is that Trump can't just focus on battleground states. He has to worry also about the red states -- the states that are supposed to be safe for a GOP presidential candidate.