Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonTrump will do debates, campaign manager says Trump’s supporters hold more negative view of trade Questions for Donald Trump after his counterterrorism speech MORE leads Donald TrumpDonald TrumpTrump will do debates, campaign manager says Trump’s supporters hold more negative view of trade WATCH LIVE: Donald Trump speaks to supporters in North Carolina MORE by 4 points in a Pew Research Center poll released Thursday that includes third-party candidates.
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The average margin of victory over those six races was 2.7 percentage points, with the most lopsided result being Bill Clinton’s 5.7 point win over Bob Dole and Ross Perot in 1996. He’s struggled to offer voters a consistent message, overshadowing formal policy speeches with a steady stream of controversies, including a public feud with an American Muslim family whose son was killed while serving in the US military in Iraq.
Trump’s advertising plans highlight his shrinking path to the presidency. Trump attended his first classified briefing, meeting with national security officials for more than two hours with career staffers from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who were expected to cover major threats and emerging concerns around the world.
Trump is spending at least $1.4 million in Florida, $1 million in Pennsylvania, about $831,000 in North Carolina and $746,000 in OH, according to Kantar Media. “Those states are critical on that pathway”.
This is quite low given that in nearly all major national polls after the two back-to-back conventions Clinton’s lead was around nine percentage points.
The gender gap continues to favor Clinton.
Trump has been bolstered on the air this summer primarily by two outside groups: The National Rifle Association and Rebuilding America Now, a pro-Trump super PAC. “People saw her stamina testifying against Congress for 11 hours and not wavering for one minute”. Trump has yet to purchase time in Virginia, though a campaign adviser said earlier this week that he planned to do so. Clinton and her allies have also put field staff in the traditionally red states of Arizona and Georgia, hoping to capitalize on shifting demographics.
On Tuesday, Trump tried to reverse his fortunes with black voters by holding a rally in Wisconsin to a sea of a thousand white people in a town with virtually no black residents.
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AP writer Jill Colvin in Mooresville, North Carolina and Lisa Lerer in Washington contributed to this report. Find out via AP’s Election Buzz interactive.
