The keys to the White House appear to be slipping away from Donald Trump as more voters are abandoning his campaign after the leak of a video in which he made lewd comments about women, according to a new national poll released Wednesday.
The Bloomberg Politics nationwide poll shows the Republican presidential candidate trails Hillary Clinton by 9 points. Support for Trump among core constituents, including men and the less educated, has dropped dramatically in the last days of the race for the Oval Office. Even when third-party candidates are included, Clinton leads by the same margin, 50-41.
“This poll shows movement toward Clinton with all the right groups it takes to win — including men and those without a college degree,” said pollster J. Ann Selzer in a statement. “Their alignment with Clinton is a formidable change in the algebra.”
After struggling to gain approval from men over the summer, Clinton is now winning 46 percent of their support in a two-way race, 2 points more than Trump’s 44 percent.
Though she wins women by a massive 17 point margin, she maintains a tiny 1 point lead among white females, 46-45.
Trump was 8 points ahead of Clinton in September among those without a college degree, but Clinton now leads that demographic 48-44. She has a 13 point lead among white college graduates, despite that group’s historical attraction to Republicans.
She also has the support of 93 percent of Democrat and Democrat-leaning voters, while Trump gets only 85 percent of Republicans.
The Republican nominee is unfavorably viewed by 63 percent of voters, and 52 percent say their perceptions are very unfavorable. A little over half report their concerns about Trump’s women issues are likely to influence their vote. The release of a 2005 video of Trump bragging about his alleged sexual exploits and a number of women coming forward claiming that the billionaire sexually assaulted them has dominated headlines this month, and Trump has denied their assertions.
Clinton’s favorability ratings have improved since September when she and Trump were tied at 46 percent in a two-way race, but she is still viewed unfavorably by 52 percent. Her net favorability is still -5 points, but Trump’s has gotten worse, and is now at -25 points.
“The race sure looks like it’s a solid Clinton win, but Trump has a few advantages in enthusiasm and support,” Selzer said.
The survey of 1,006 likely voters conducted Oct.14-17 has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
