N.H. Union Leader on Trump: ‘The Polls Are Pretty Much Bunk’ and ‘Name Recognition’

WELKER: “... page opinion piece, including calling the Republican front-runner a crude blowhard was going to draw that exact type of response that we saw last night. So, let’s ask him. Joe McQuaid joins me now live. Thanks so much for being here, Joe.”
MCQUAID: “You’re welcome, Miss Welker. How are you?”
WELKER: “I’m great. We appreciate you being here. I want to get your reaction to everything you heard Donald Trump say last night. He called you a lowlife; he said your paper’s going down the tubes. What’s your response?”
MCQUAID: “History repeats. Thirty-two years ago, guy named Ed Muskie pulled up in front of the union leader and said William Loeb was a liar and he didn’t walk, he crawled. And I’m trying to figure out — just ask the guy in the studio whether a lowlife is better than a crawler or a walker and how he gets around.” (Laughter)
WELKER: “So you’re not backing down from what you published earlier this week, that’s for sure. But what I want to ask you, Joe, is what type of impact you are actually seeing it have on New Hampshire’s Republicans. You called on them not to vote for Trump. As you know, he’s got a lot of support in your state. He is leading in the polls handily. Are you actually seeing what you wrote have an effect at this point?”
MCQUAID: “Well, as I know — I don’t know what Mr. Trump’s support is in our state or nationally, for that matter. I think the polls are pretty much bunk and are name recognition, not real substance. And it’s a crowded field and I think Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina are going to win over the field and all this poll business is going to be history, past history. As far as the reaction in the state of New Hampshire to our piece yesterday, it’s mixed. There are some Trump supporters, most of them appear to have commented online under the editorial and said we were some sort of dog excrement which was kind of nice, but we’ve also gotten quite a bit of support summed up in — it’s about time somebody called this guy out.”