Poll: Trump Edges Clinton when Voters Pushed

[polychronopolous]

And that's even without them being on stage together where she will be brutally exposed.

I called it last Janaury, this is your next President folks.

Go ahead and hand Poly the 2016 Politics Board Smartest Poster of the Year



A new poll from Rasmussen Reports shows Donald Trump edging Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical general election match-up. The poll, of likely voters, finds Trump with 41 percent, followed closely by Clinton with 39 percent.

While the poll is certainly good news for Trump supporters, there is one interesting caveat to the result. Voters were not given the option of simply staying home and not voting. Last week, when a Rasmussen poll gave voters that option, Trump and Clinton were tied, taking 38 percent of the vote each.

Even with the “staying home” option removed, 20 percent of voters say they would support a third candidate or are undecided between Trump and Clinton.

Obviously, one can’t really remove the “stay home” option for voters. Even if one were able to do this, however, the benefit to Trump is slight. Essentially, the race between Trump and Clinton is a toss-up, according to Rasmussen.

Indeed, Rasmussen polling in the race has been largely static over the past six months. In October, Trump lead Clinton by an almost equal amount, 38-36 percent.  In December, Clinton had the edge, 37-36, over Trump. Clinton’s best showing was in early March, when she led the GOP frontrunner by five points, 41-36.

Both Trump and Clinton are still facing some headwinds among their party’s voters. Trump has the support of just 73 percent of Republicans in a general election contest, while Clinton has the backing of just 77 percent of Democrats. Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to support a third-party candidate.

Among truly Independent voters, with no ties to either political party, Trump leads Clinton by 6 points, 37-31. Actually, among these voters, Clinton comes in third. Almost one-in-three unaffiliated voters, 32 percent, back a third-party candidate or are undecided.

The Rasmussen poll suggests a slug-fest in November. The numbers suggest that neither candidate is particularly popular beyond a small core of supporters. The conventional wisdom from partisans of both candidates that the one will crush the other in November seems very premature.

Neither Trump nor Clinton seems to have any kind of insurmountable advantage over the other at this stage. Clinton, however, does have more room to grow her support. Among black voters, she leads 71-9 percent. Among non-black minorities, she leads 45-33 percent.

In both voting blocks, Trump is garnering an average level of support for a Republican candidate. Clinton’s support, however, is far below that expected of a Democrat candidate. If she can get these numbers closer to that of an average Democrat, without losing support, her position in November will strengthen.

In the end, this poll probably says more about the candidacy of Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump. Those Republicans worried about Donald Trump being the nominee would do well to remember that the Democrats will be saddled with Clinton. She is currently one of the worst performing Democrat candidates in a very long time.

[polychronopolous]

Just brutal. She is actually losing to a hypothetical third party candidate while already having alienated a good portion of the Bernie supporters. To think that this wretched waste of flesh is going to be able to woo anybody undecided at this point is laughable at best.

"Among truly Independent voters, with no ties to either political party, Trump leads Clinton by 6 points, 37-31. Actually, among these voters, Clinton comes in third. Almost one-in-three unaffiliated voters, 32 percent, back a third-party candidate or are undecided."

[Straw Man]

I like how you just assume that Trump will somehow "brutally expose" Clinton in a debate.

His childish rantings and bragging about his junk aren't going to work in a one on one debate about serious topics

You might want to wait until there is a direct debate or two before you start congratulating yourself

At the very least wait until Trump is the actual nominee.

[tonymctones]

Trump is able to counter and jab Clinton very well. "She is a bought and paid for politician" she attended his wedding even though she says they were never friends.

She attacks him on being sexist and demeaning to women, she is married to and has a campaigning partner who is probably the most famous cheater in US history

[polychronopolous]

Trump is able to counter and jab Clinton very well. "She is a bought and paid for politician" she attended his wedding even though she says they were never friends.

She attacks him on being sexist and demeaning to women, she is married to and has a campaigning partner who is probably the most famous cheater in US history

Trump is the most dangerous type of opponent...that person who has zero to lose.

He loses this race? Big deal he's a multi-billionaire with all the resources in the world.

Even if he does win we are likely looking at a one term president who hands it over to his VP then retires back to Mar-a-Lago to begin his golden days and enjoy his wealth at 73 years old.