New Poll Shows Trump Cut Clinton’s Lead in Half in Just One Week
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump grew up with a fellow New York City icon proclaiming that “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
That adage of New York Yankees great Yogi Berra is ringing true on the presidential playing field as another poll shows that a late rally by Trump is bringing him closer to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
A Fox News poll released Wednesday showed that in one week, Trump sliced Clinton’s poll lead in half, as independent voters increasingly flock to the billionaire.
The Fox poll found Clinton leading Trump 44 percent to 41 percent, with 10 percent of the voters supporting another candidate and 4 percent undecided.
The 3 percent margin for Clinton represents a continued erosion of her lead, which was six points last week and seven points the week before.
In a head-to-head contest, Clinton leads Trump 49 percent to 44 percent. Clinton’s five-point lead is down from the seven-point lead she had a week ago.
Independents are changing the dynamics of the contest.
Trump leads Clinton among independent voters, 41 percent to 28 percent. That’s almost double the seven-point lead Trump held last week. Two weeks ago, each candidate had 35 percent of the vote from independents.
Independent voters also are a main source of support for third-party candidates. Fourteen percent support Libertarian Gary Johnson and 7 percent back Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
The poll also found that Trump’s supporters are more committed to their candidate than are Clinton backers, with 68 percent of Trump backers supporting him “strongly,” compared with 61 percent for Clinton.
“To be competitive, Trump needs to consolidate support among Republicans and carry independents,” Republican pollster Daron Shaw told Fox News. “That’s where he’s made in-roads in the last week, mostly by focusing his attention on the economy and Obamacare.”
Trump has focused his argument that voters have their only chance to defeat the “rigged” system by electing him.
“Remember folks, it’s a rigged system,” Trump said at a rally Friday. “That’s why you’ve got to get out and vote, you’ve got to watch. Because this system is totally rigged.”
“I believe we’re actually winning,” Trump said Tuesday in Florida. “It’s a rigged system.”
“The media isn’t just against me. They’re against all of you,” he later said in St Augustine. “They’re against what we represent.” (For more from the author of “New Poll Shows Trump Cut Clinton’s Lead in Half in Just One Week” please click HERE)
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