Hillary Clinton Extends Lead Over Donald Trump to 11 Points
Democratic nominee picks up support from women, swing voters in latest WSJ/NBC News poll
By Janet Hook Oct. 16, 2016 9:00 a.m. ET
Hillary Clinton is consolidating a substantial lead over
Donald Trump less than a month before Election Day, picking up support from women and swing voters as the Republican nominee navigates a roiling sex scandal, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.
Heading into the final presidential debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Trump by 11 percentage points among likely voters, 48% to 37%, a big jump from the
six-point edge she held in mid-September.
Moreover, the Republican presidential nominee is losing his advantage on matters that were once the cornerstone of his campaign—his trade policies, command of economic issues and claims to be more honest and straightforward than his opponent.
The poll also found that Mr. Trump had been damaged politically by the release of a 2005 recording in which
he spoke about touching women sexually without consent, a problem that has been compounded in recent days as women have come forward to
accuse him of unwanted sexual conduct over the last 30 years.
The poll is a snapshot of the electorate at a particularly rocky time for Mr. Trump, but there is little time for him to change the political dynamic now.
“The guy is losing support on his way to November. You can’t win that way,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democrat Fred Yang.
“The cake has been baked,” said Mr. Yang, who noted that the share of voters viewing Mr. Trump positively has changed little and has never topped 30% in Journal/NBC polling this year.
“The Trump coalition right now seems to be mostly the hard core,” he said.
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