New National Poll Shows Clinton Leading By Seven

Hillary Clinton has consistently held a lead in national polls over Donald Trump at every time this campaign except the days immediately after the Republican National Convention. While the race may tighten at times, Hillary Clinton holds a seven-percentage-point lead over Trump as the two head into the first presidential debate.

According to McClatchy DC, the latest McClatchy-Marist poll shows a head-to-head match up between the candidates has Clinton winning 48 percent support to Trump’s 41 percent.

Broken down along party lines, Clinton wins 94 percent support with self-identified Democrats, and Trump picks up four percent of their support. Among Republicans, Trump holds 87 percent, and Clinton grabs seven percent of their support. With Independents, the race is closer, but Clinton holds a 40-38 split over Trump.

“You wouldn’t bet for Clinton,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York, said. “But you certainly wouldn’t bet against her at this time.”

“When it comes to specific areas of public policy, she seems to dominate those,” Miringoff  added. “When it comes to the qualities of a candidate she has some convincing to do.”

“If there’s an Achilles’ heel in her armor, honest and trustworthy is where that shows up the most,” Miringoff later continued.

According to RealClearPolitics’ national poll aggregator, for the weeks of September 8 through 21, Clinton holds a three-point margin over Trump.

“Despite arguably the worst few weeks of her candidacy, the fundamentals still point toward a Hillary Clinton victory,” Fred Yang, Democratic pollster at Hart Research Associates, told NBC News.

“Donald Trump has closed the margin since August, but as we head towards the debate, still needs to push this campaign closer,” Bill McInturff, Yang’s Republican counterpart, added. “The good news for him is the electorate narrowly agrees with him that America has lost ground and wants to see a change in direction.”

Sources: McClatchy DC, (2), RealClearPolitics, NBC News / Photo Credit: Daniel Freel / Instagram