The 'why?' piece to this public opinion puzzle isn't exactly a great mystery. After re-building a formidable national lead over the course of three presidential debates, Hillary Clinton's campaign has been buffeted by Wikileaks revelations that
RCP: Trump’s average in the four-way race now the highest it’s been all year https://t.co/qBr7kdTo9z pic.twitter.com/16ncpyFzj6
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) October 30, 2016
Highlighted bit of this ABC/WaPo poll is what must worry HRC camp pic.twitter.com/0bNOhHDD0f
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 30, 2016
Hillary's edge in four-way national polling has fallen to within most polls' margin of error, and while GOP leaners constitute the large majority of those who say the fresh email developments make them less likely to support her, every independent that shifts away from her could prove costly -- as could every Democrat leaner who decides to sit at home. Again, the backdrop to all of this is that even though she's held a consistent and often sizable lead over Donald Trump, most Americans are not eager to support this woman. As for key swing states, Trump has surged back into a tie in Florida, without which he has no prayer of accumulating 270 electoral votes. Momentum, courtesy of Hillary's patented anti-momentum:
Clinton and Trump now tied in Florida RCP average pic.twitter.com/TM4LyR7J94
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) October 30, 2016
The early voting race appears to be going relatively well for the GOP in the Sunshine State, too, which is also good news for Marco Rubio's re-election chances. Two new polls have him ahead by nine and eight points, respectively (and north of 50 percent in both), which may help explain why national Democrats have all but abandoned his Democratic challenger. Trump, meanwhile, holds extremely thin leads in both Ohio and Iowa. Other battlegrounds remain challenging, however:
CBS/YouGov battleground state polls:
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) October 30, 2016
PA: Clinton 48, Trump 40
CO: Clinton 42, Trump 39
NC: Clinton 48, Trump 45
AZ: Trump 44, Clinton 42
NV early voting blog updated!
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) October 30, 2016
Dem firewall in Clark close to 44,000. Statewide lead above 31,000. A lot like 2012.https://t.co/1pS7nvPBhm
Even if Trump snags Ohio, Florida, and Iowa -- and locks down potentially wavering red states like Arizona and Georgia -- he'll still need to make serious gains elsewhere. That's why all eyes are on states like Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania (all of which are also hosting margin-of-error Senate races this cycle). Clinton has a very slim average lead in the Silver State, a modest but enduring lead in the Tar Heel State, and an apparently-durable advantage in the Keystone State. Right now, her firewall is holding up. That being said, state-level surveys often lag behind national polling trends, her once-secure path to 270 is looking more tenuous than it has in weeks, and then there's this:
Voters who haven't yet settled on a candidate in the presidential election are more Republican-leaning as a group than Democratic, suggesting that GOP nominee Donald Trump can make last-minute gains if he can persuade those voters to return to their home party. Some 30% of undecided voters call themselves Republicans, compared with 21% who call themselves Democrats, an analysis of Wall Street Journal/NBC News national polling shows. In another sign of the Republican tilt of undecided voters, some 42% of those voters say they want the next Congress to be controlled by the GOP, suggesting that they are Republicans at heart. Some 35% say they prefer Democratic control.
If that analysis of remaining undecided voters is roughly accurate, that could be a distinct advantage to Republicans trying to either close gaps or hang onto leads. Team Clinton and their henchmen have been reduced to turning their fire away from the extremely unpopular Republican nominee, and training it on the FBI Director they've been praising for years. This is a terrible, terrible posture to adopt in the closing days of a campaign:
In Homestretch To Election Day, Clinton Runs Against Comey https://t.co/CKVlGcERe7 via @rubycramer @buzzfeednews
— David Mack (@davidmackau) October 30, 2016
Even if she survives and wins next week -- largely thanks to Trump's unacceptability to so many voters -- she'll be sullied, disliked, and hold no governing mandate.
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