|
The shift came as
Trump struggled to reset his campaign following a stretch of
controversies.
About 42 percent of likely voters favored Clinton and about 35
percent preferred Trump, according to the Aug. 4-8 online poll
of 1,152 likely voters, which had a credibility interval of plus
or minus 3 percentage points. The others would either pick
another candidate, would not vote, or "don't know/refused."
The results reflected a decline in support for Trump, rather
than a boost for Clinton: In last Thursday's poll, 42 percent of
likely voters favored Clinton and about 39 percent favored
Trump.
Among registered voters over the same period, Clinton held a
lead of nearly 13 percentage points, up from about 5 percentage
points on Thursday, according to the poll.
The five-day survey concluded on a mixed day for the Trump
campaign. After squabbles last week with party leaders and the
parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq, Trump
sought to turn the page with a speech outlining an economic
platform of tax breaks and regulatory rollbacks.
But in what was surely unwelcome news for Trump's campaign, 50
heavyweight Republican national security officials, in a letter
published on Monday, said that Trump would be "the most reckless
president in American history." Trump hit back, saying the
signatories "deserve the blame for making the world such a
dangerous place."
Trump faced more dissent within his party on Monday. A former
CIA officer, Evan McMullin, announced he would run as an
independent alternative to Trump for conservative Republicans,
and Republican Senator Susan Collins said she would not vote for
Trump.
In a separate Reuters/Ipsos survey that gave respondents the
option to choose from Clinton, Trump, Libertarian candidate Gary
Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Clinton leads
Trump by about 6 percentage points.
Of the alternative party candidates, Johnson came in third with
nearly 8 percentage points, up from 6 points on Thursday. Stein
has about 2 percentage points. The Aug. 4-8 survey of 1,154
likely voters had a credibility interval of 3 percentage points.
McMullin was not an option in the poll.
(Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Leslie Adler)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
