A new poll shows Hillary Clinton’s national lead has shrunk to just 4 points, and that she is losing independents to her Republican opponent.
Clinton leads Trump 46 percent-42 percent in the latest Monmouth University poll of likely voters nationwide. In late August, Clinton led Trump 46 percent-39 percent and carried a 5-point edge among independent voters. Trump is now in the lead among independents, edging her 39 percent-33 percent.
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That bad for Clinton news follows another poll from Bloomberg showing the two candidates are tied.
The Monmouth poll said Trump’s favorability rating has improved by 6 points, though he is still seen as less temperamentally fit to be president than Clinton. Only 35 percent of voters believe Trump has the temperament to be president, while 58 percent think his Democratic opponent does.
Ahead of Monday night’s debate, voters are evenly split on which candidate would better handle the U.S. economy, while Clinton carries a slight edge as the more trusted candidate to deal with the threat of terrorism (48 percent-45 percent). However, Trump leads Clinton on both issues among undecided voters and those who currently support a third-party candidate.
“If persuadable voters’ final calculation comes down to temperament, Clinton should pick up a few points. If it comes down to issues, Trump may see a bump,” Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement.
Nearly 90 percent of voters do not see any possibility where their current candidate preference changes after watching the first presidential debate at Hofstra University. Ten percent said the debate could potentially have an impact on their vote, including 8 percent of Clinton supporters and 12 percent of Trump supporters.
The Monmouth University poll of 802 registered voters was conducted between Sept. 22-25. Results contain a margin of error plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
