It’s not over until the you-know-what-lady sings and she has been clearing her voice in several pitches. The latest poll — in another sign of how nothing can be taken for granted or dismissed by either party this election year — shows Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump pulling ahead of Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, in a sharp change from recent polls. And it also shows waning Democratic enthusiasm is part of the reason, as GOPers come home to the party that is now the party of Trump:
Strong enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton has ebbed since the renewal of the FBI’s email investigation.
While vote preferences have held essentially steady, she’s now a slim point behind Donald Trump — a first since May — in the latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates.
In the latest results, 46 percent of likely voters support Trump, and 45 percent are for Clinton. With the data taken to a decimal place for illustrative purposes, a mere 0.7 of a percentage point divides them.
Third-party candidate Gary Johnson has 3 percent, a new low; Jill Stein, 2 percent.
And here’s the big shift:
Trump now leads Clinton by 8 points in the share of voters who are very enthusiastic about their choice as of Friday. But compared with past elections, it’s low for both of them — 53 percent for Trump, 45 percent for Clinton.
Strong enthusiasm for Clinton has lost 7 points since the start of tracking, especially Friday through Sunday. This is possibly an effect of the renewed controversy over her use of a private email server while secretary of state. Trump’s strong enthusiasm has held steady in tracking, which started Oct. 20.
However, as it’s always noted, what matters is how a poll fits within the average of other polls. (Or does it in this crazy election year?).
Here’s TPM:
Pollster:
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.