A new Quinnipiac University poll shows billionaire Republican Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton deadlocked in the race for the White House:
Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump are deadlocked less than a month before the Democratic and Republican presidential conventions, according to a new national poll of registered voters that shows the American electorate feeling disappointed in each candidate.
A Quinnipiac University survey released on Wednesday found that 42 percent supported Mrs. Clinton while 40 percent backed Mr. Trump. The poll represents a slight improvement for Mr. Trump, who trailed by four points at the beginning of the month, and has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.
The numbers come as Mr. Trump has rebooted his campaign after a series of missteps, appointing a new campaign manager and sharpening his rapid-response operation. Mrs. Clinton has been aggressively taking on Mr. Trump with a series of speeches questioning his temperament and picking apart his policies.
But the contentious tenor of the campaign is turning off voters, and most of them blame Mr. Trump. Quinnipiac’s poll found that 61 percent think that the campaign is increasing hatred and prejudice in the United States, and 67 percent of those who think that attribute it to the presumptive Republican nominee.
“It would be difficult to imagine a less flattering from-the-gut reaction to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll. “Voters find themselves in the middle of a meanspirited, scorched-earth campaign between two candidates they don’t like.”
Here’s Pollster’s latest average of polls. One poll does not a trend make, so it’s useful to look at an average:
Meanwhile, a new poll finds Clinton ahead in “battleground states.”
51% to 37% in Florida
45% to 41% in Iowa
50% to 33% in Michigan
48% to 38% in North Carolina
46% to 37% in Ohio
49% to 35% in Pennsylvania
45% to 38% in Virginia
graphic via shutterstock.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.