The FINANCIAL — Individual states will ultimately tell the tale, but right now the presidential race nationally is about as tight as it can be.
Rasmussen Reports’ latest White House Watch survey finds Hillary Clinton with 42% support among Likely U.S. Voters and Donald Trump with 41%. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson picks up seven percent (7%), while Green Party nominee Jill Stein again has two percent (2%) of the vote, according to our latest national telephone and online survey. Three percent (3%) like some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.
Yesterday, Clinton took a two-point lead – 43% to 41% – after ending last week behind her Republican rival by an identical margin. She jumped ahead by seven at the beginning of last week following the airing of a video showing Trump making graphic sexual remarks, but the race evened out again following the candidates’ second debate. Their final debate is tomorrow night.
Eighty-five percent (85%) of voters say they are now sure how they are going to vote, and among these voters, Clinton and Trump are dead even at 47% apiece. Johnson gets five percent (5%) support, Stein two percent (2%). Among voters who still could change their minds, it’s Clinton 37%, Trump 30%, Johnson 26% and Stein seven percent (7%).
Rasmussen Reports updates its White House Watch survey daily Monday through Friday at 8:30 am Eastern based on a three-day rolling average of 1,500 Likely U.S. Voters. All three nights in the latest survey follow the release of a New York Times story alleging Trump’s sexual harassment of several women. Trump has adamantly denied the allegations. Clinton, meanwhile, has been beset by WikiLeaks’ release of hundreds of internal Democratic Party e-mails, raising further legal and ethical questions about her and her campaign.
Trump views radical Islamic terrorism as the number one threat to the United States and has contradicted many in the foreign policy establishment by saying Russia would make a good ally in fighting that threat. Republicans and Trump supporters strongly agree that radical Islam is the bigger threat, but Democrats and Clinton voters tend to rate Russia as just as big a danger.
Trump picks up 76% of the Republican vote and 15% of Democrats. Clinton has the support of 78% of Democrats and 10% of GOP voters. The two are in a near tie among voters not affiliated with either major party, a group Trump has previously held by double-digit margins.
Republicans (89%) and Democrats (86%) are surer of their vote at this time than unaffiliateds (79%) are.
Roughly 85% of men and women are certain of how they will vote. Trump leads among men by four points, Clinton among women by five.
Those under 40 remain more supportive of Clinton but also register the highest level of support for Johnson. These younger voters are also more likely to be undecided. Their elders prefer Trump.
Clinton leads by a three-to-one margin among blacks. Trump remains ahead among whites. The two are tied among other minority voters.
The WikiLeaks disclosures have highlighted the close working relationship between the Clinton campaign and journalists at several major news organizations including the New York Times and CNN. But then 50% of voters expect most reporters to help Clinton. Just 11% think they are more likely to help Trump.
Some of these same news organizations are giving limited, if any, coverage to the WikiLeaks information, in part because Democrats are claiming it is part of a Russian effort to influence the election. We’ll tell you what voters think at 10:30 a.m. Eastern today.
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Just 29% of voters think the country is headed in the right direction.
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