An Emerson College survey shows Democratic rival Hillary Clinton leading Trump by just one point in Virginia, while the real estate tycoon has a five-point lead in Iowa, according to The Hill.
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Over the same time period, the NBC News/Survey Monkey Poll showed a narrowing in its 4-way presidential race – from a 6-point Clinton lead to a 4-point Clinton lead – with both major party candidates seeing drops in support. The website keeps track of nearly all the major national polls.
For Clinton, it is whether she can move historically high unfavorable numbers, and turn that polling lead into actual votes; for Trump, it is whether he can change the minds of enough voters beyond his durable base, and take back key battleground states in which he trails.
Trump is also expected to campaign at a fair in Youngstown, Ohio, in a nod to the state’s role as a make-or-break proving ground for Republican presidential candidates.
Asked whether presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has a path to victory here, GOP strategist Charles Coughlin conceded: “I believe it’s there if she wanted to do it”. With only 65 days left until Election Day, the Daily Mail is reporting that the latest poll from Reuters/Ipsos shows Trump has 40 percent of the vote while Clinton has 39 percent. A 9-point Clinton in early August had dropped to a 5-point Clinton lead at the month’s end.
Still, Trump aides acknowledge that the brash businessman needs to do more to address his own shaky standing with voters.
Among young whites, more say that Trump would better handle securing the border than Clinton, by a 57 percent to 19 percent margin, while 49 percent say Trump would deal with immigrants who are now living in the United States illegally, versus 31 percent for Clinton. While Trump was in Louisiana, Clinton was at Martha’s Vineyard with President Obama.
Pollsters interviewed by The Hill say that Clinton’s polling bounce after her party’s national convention was aided and perhaps magnified by Trump’s feud with the family of a slain USA solider. “But if you read that speech carefully, that speech is consistent with what he’s said in the past, and it leaves a very big opening for what will happen to the people that remain here in the United States after the criminals are removed and after the border is secured”, Giuliani said. They nevertheless announced, “Having studied what is at stake for this country and the alternatives we have now, we see only one viable leader, and will be voting this November for Secretary Hillary Clinton”.
But the ambiguity was lost on several members of Trump’s Hispanic advisory council. Tim Kaine (who is also the state’s former governor) as her running mate. “Others” in the poll are defined as respondents who decline to pick either Clinton or Trump.
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“We’re very much on schedule to do what we need to do to turn out the vote for Mr. Trump”, said Bob Paduchik, Trump’s OH state director and one of the most experienced operatives on the Republican’s staff. Paduchik said Trump’s efforts heading into the fall are focused primarily on rallying “disaffected Democrats and independents”. But few believe either third-party candidate will pull as much support as they’re now getting in the polls on Election Day, potentially adding to Clinton’s total. The pooled battleground states include North Carolina and Pennsylvania here, and also a look at Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Colorado, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
