Politics & Government
Hillary Clinton Surges Ahead of Donald Trump in New Michigan Poll
Less than a month ago, Trump was closing in on the race for Michigan's 16 electoral votes.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is expected to claim the state’s 16 electoral votes in the Nov. 8 general election, according to a new poll released three weeks after Republican challenger Donald Trump appeared to be cutting into the former secretary of state’s lead.
The Detroit Free Press/WXYZ-TV poll gives Clinton an 11-percentage-point lead, up 8 points from the same poll less than a month ago, in a four-way race and a 10-percentage point lead in a two-way race. With Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein figured in the race, Clinton now leads Trump in Michigan, 42 percent to 38 percent, according to the new poll of 600 likely Michigan voters surveyed from Saturday through Monday.
The news organizations’ poll released in mid-September showed that Trump had pulled within 3 points of Clinton, well within the poll’s margin of error. Her support now rivals a post-Democratic National Convention bump in the polls.
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What changed? Michiganders’ answers to questions suggest that Trump supporters were turned off by the Republican standard bearer’s poor performance in the first presidential debate and revelations that he may not have paid taxes for 18 years.
With less than five months remaining before the election, Trump may not be able to recapture his momentum. A strong performance in Sunday’s presidential debate could help the businessman, real estate tycoon and reality TV star, but at the same time Clinton would have to make a major gaffe, as she did when she suggested that half of Trump’s supporters are a “basket of deplorables.”
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“The race is much more settled now no matter what demographic group you’re looking at,” said pollster Bernie Porn of Lansing-based EPIC-MRA, which conducted the polls. “It’s hard to imagine (Clinton losing Michigan) unless Hillary has a health (or some other) issue … I think the perceptions of Trump are pretty baked in.”
» For more on this, go to the Detroit Free Press.
Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons
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