October 07, 2016, 12:43 pm
Poll: Independents break for Clinton as national lead widens
By Jonathan Easley
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has opened up a 5-point lead over Republican Donald Trump nationally as independent voters have moved strongly into her corner, a new poll finds.
A Quinnipiac University survey released Friday found Clinton taking 45 percent support over Trump, at 40 percent. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson is at 6 percent in the poll, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein takes 3 percent.
In the same poll from mid-September, Clinton held only a 1-point lead over Trump in a four-way match-up.
Since the first presidential debate, self-described independents have abandoned Trump in favor of Clinton.
In the same survey from mid-September, Trump led 42 to 35 among independents, with Johnson taking 15 percent. Clinton leads 46 to 32 among independents in the latest poll, with Johnson’s support reduced to 10 percent. Johnson has seen a drop in poll numbers recently, as voters begin to question his fitness to be president.
In addition, Clinton’s lead among women, 53 to 33, is greater than Trump’s lead among men, 42 to 35.
And non-white voters break 63 to 18 for the Democrat, while white voters only support Trump by a 51 to 38 margin.
“Post-debate, Hillary Clinton checks all the boxes,” said Quinnipiac pollster Tim Malloy. “With her base of women and non-white voters now solidly behind her and independent voters moving into her column, Donald Trump gets a wake-up call. The Indies are leaving in droves.”
The Quinnipiac University survey of 1,064 likely voters was conducted between Oct. 5 and Oct. 6 and has a 3 percentage point margin of error.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/299830-poll-indies-break-for-clinton-as-national-lead-widens