US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is fighting back.
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A new CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday grabbed headlines as the first of the “big five” surveys to show Trump in the lead in a head-to-head matchup with Clinton for the first time in six weeks – since between the two parties’ conventions in July, when Trump was benefiting from a bump in the polls after the Republican National Convention but Clinton had not yet made her case at the Democrats’.
Clinton was arriving in OH and IL aboard a new blue-and-white Boeing 737 campaign plane emblazoned with her slogan, “Stronger Together”.
The crowd and running mate Tim Kaine chanted Clinton’s name while she paused to drink some water and regain her composure.
Asked her Labor Day message, she said, “If you want more happy Labor Days you know who to vote for”.
In New Hampshire and Iowa, Trump’s campaign hasn’t reserved a dime in TV advertising. The billionaire businessman appeared to pivot away from his hard-line position on immigration, saying, “I’m all about jobs now”. The voters who name it as a top issue are more apt to support Trump’s approach to handling immigration. “Donald Trump is no Republican and certainly no conservative”.
Clinton powered through a coughing fit at a Labor Day festival at a Cleveland park, sharply criticizing Trump’s recent trip to Mexico as “an embarrassing worldwide incident”.
An immigration speech Trump gave following his trip to Mexico, however, drew criticism from some of his Hispanic supporters and several backers advising him on the issue chose to part ways with his campaign. Democratic voters in both states seem to be softening a bit from last month. Clinton’s session with reporters was her first news conference since last December. Beyond Russia, she answered questions about the ongoing controversy surrounding her use of a private email server while secretary of state, which Trump has used to cast doubt over her ability to protect classified information.
“I’m ready, I’m more than ready”, Clinton said before takeoff. “It’s so exciting”, she told journalists as they boarded her plane.
The two campaigns arrived in Cleveland within hours of each other, underscoring Ohio’s quadrennial role in presidential campaigns.
Those states would provide 244 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
The Reuters poll is just the latest to show Trump bouncing back from earlier numbers that had him down by as much as 12 percentage points. “It is kind of baked-in at this point”, said Newport. “Just shows you how important OH is. We’re going to be here a lot”.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign has built a massive spending advantage over Donald Trump in critical swing states heading into Election Day – a widening disparity that worries Republicans not just for the presidential race but also in the battle for the Senate.
Thursday’s poll is the first survey of the presidential race in OH to be released this month.
For a few weeks after the conventions, Clinton’s lead over the 70-year-old real estate tycoon was almost 10 percentage points. This came on the heels of a Fox News poll that showed Clinton narrowing her lead to a measly two points.
Trump practically has to sweep those states to win.
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The Morning News, which backed Ohio Gov. John Kasich during the primaries, cited Trump’s “authoritarian streak that should horrify limited-government advocates” and his “open admiration of Russia’s Vladimir Putin” as “alarming” reasons to oppose his candidacy.
