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Hillary Clinton Vs. Donald Trump Polls: With Florida and Ohio There For The Taking, Clinton’s Electoral Lead Dwindles

By Phillip Dengler
Published on: 08:25 PST, Sep 10, 2016

Republican nominee for president of the United States Donald Trump continues to gain support against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project results that were released on Saturday morning. The poll, which is done online and takes replies from 15,000 people per week, also analyzes voting patterns under various election scenarios.

While Clinton still has an 83 percent chance of winning the election by 47 votes in the Electoral College, her support has been dwindling over the course of the past few weeks. Towards the end of August, Clinton had a 95 percent chance of winning the election by 108 electoral votes in the Electoral College. She is still in the lead, but her once easy victory may not be as secure anymore. As the Reuters/Ipsos poll shows, Florida and Ohio may now be in play again.

“Republican Donald Trump appears to have carved out a wider path to the White House as a number of states including Florida and Ohio are no longer considered likely wins for Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project released on Saturday.”

While Trump now has a realistic chance of winning Florida and Ohio, Clinton is still leading in many of the densely populated states that are crucial in winning the election.

“Clinton is still favored to win 17 states, including many with large, urban populations such as New York, New Jersey and California that heavily influence the outcome of the election. Trump would likely win 23 states, many of them with smaller populations. The number of states projected for Clinton has dropped over the past few weeks. Two of those states, Ohio and Florida, were considered likely wins for Clinton in late August. Now the candidates are about even in support. Five more states, including Michigan and North Carolina are also up for grabs.”

As the Inquisitr reported last week, Trump has also been carving into Clinton’s lead over the past few weeks in a separate Reuters/Ipsos poll that focuses on favorability and support for each candidate. While Clinton had led Trump in this particular poll since the end of the Democratic National Convention, she actually lost her lead in a poll that was conducted from August 26 to September 1. Trump enjoyed support from 40 percent of likely voters, and 39 percent of likely voters supported Clinton.

Since the measure of accuracy was three percentage points, both candidates were considered even. Regardless, Clinton had a double-digit lead over Trump in the beginning of August, so this showed that many potential voters were starting to change their stance.

While Trump took the lead, it turned out to be short-lived. According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos polling data from September 5, 39.7 percent of likely voters favored Clinton. Trump had support from 38.1 percent of likely voters, so he lost close to two points. Even though the percentage of likely voters that support Clinton has been falling, she still gained 0.7 percentage points since the last report. As with most Reuters/Ipsos polls, the measure of accuracy is likely three points, so both candidates should still be considered even in this particular favorability poll.

Neither candidate is particularly liked among the general population, but Trump has made numerous controversial statements over the past year. In addition to his stances on illegal immigration, minorities, guns, Black Lives Matter, and foreign affairs, Trump recently praised Vladimir Putin, as reported by Business Insider. While Trump claimed that Putin is a strong leader, he also clarified that he does not agree with his policies. Regardless, this is not something that is likely to help Trump gain support from any undecided voters.

In addition to the email scandal and not knowing how to properly handle classified information, Clinton is also viewed as dishonest. The Boston Globe recently raised the question of whether or not Clinton has a health issue or if she is simply dishonest dodging. Her declining numbers in recent polls shows that the general public is also weary of her trustworthiness.

With November’s presidential election now less than two months away, the polls between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton should continue to get tighter. Clinton is still the favorite to win the election, but things could drastically change as the first debate nears.

[Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]

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