“There are some women who might be inclined to vote for Trump that for whatever reason right now can’t bring themselves to pull the lever,” Coker said. “He just keeps making these dumb remarks that can’t get him to where he needs to be with women voters, and particularly Republican women. If he would just shut up and talk about the issues, things might start to turn.”

Missourians gave Trump a 13-point advantage regarding which candidate would best be able to handle the economy. He and Clinton are virtually tied over which would be best at confronting terrorism and national security.

But countering the trustworthiness gap she faces, Clinton had a 12-point spread when Missourians were asked which candidate had the best temperament for the job.

Coker said he thought many Missouri voters were balancing concerns about the economy with that temperament gap.

“The fact that they trust Trump on the economy right now may be the most important element, because when you cut through everything and somebody really doesn’t know which way to go, they are usually going to look at, ‘How have I done financially?’” he said.