Trump Gains On Clinton In Swing States

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton may have dominated the polls in recent weeks, but now Republican nominee Donald Trump is gaining on her in three of the most crucial Rust Belt states.

In an Emerson College survey released on Aug. 29, the two nominees were tied at 43 percent in Ohio, while Clinton led Trump by three points in Pennsylvania (46 percent to Trump’s 43 percent) and by five point in Michigan (45 percent to 40 percent). Meanwhile, Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson received seven percent in Pennsylvania and Michigan and 10 percent in Ohio, while Green Party nominee Jill Stein took in two percent of the vote in Ohio and Pennsylvania and three percent in Michigan.

Trump has placed heavy emphasis on winning over working-class voters in the Rust Belt states. In recent months, he’s spent much time campaigning there, promising blue-collar Republicans and Democrats that he will bring back manufacturing jobs to the U.S. and modify existing trade deals to make outsourcing labor much more difficult, notes Politico.

Clinton’s running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, has also been spending a fair amount of time in the area in an effort to appeal to the same working-class, white voters as Trump, particularly in Michigan and Wisconsin, two states that went to Sen. Bernie Sanders in the primaries.

“What benefits Trump is he’s a Republican who’s actually talking about trade, who’s talking about the plight of the working person,” former Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan said, according to Politico. “People don’t know [Kaine] yet in Michigan, but he brings such an amazing background of somebody who has been in the trenches fighting for people that haven’t got a voice anywhere he goes.”

Many Rust Belt voters, particularly those who have seen manufacturing jobs disappear on a large scale in recent years, say Trump’s unconventional candidacy and effort to connect with average working-class Americans appeals to them.

Poll averages show Trump trails Clinton by 3.2 percent in Ohio and 8.6 percent in Pennsylvania and Michigan, notes Business Insider.

No president has lost Ohio and won the presidency since 1960 when voters elected John F. Kennedy.

Sources: Emerson College, Politico, Business Insider / Photo Credit: Jschnalzer/Wikimedia Commons