More Republicans expect Clinton, rather
than Trump, to win U.S. election
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[October 27, 2016]
By Chris Kahn
NEW YORK (Reuters) - More Republicans now
think Democrat Hillary Clinton, rather than Donald Trump, will win the
presidency, as their party's candidate struggles with difficulties
including allegations of sexual misconduct and his suggestion he may not
honor the outcome of the election.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday and conducted from Oct. 20 to
Oct. 24 found that 41 percent of Republicans expected Clinton to win the
Nov. 8 election, versus 40 percent who picked Trump.
That reflected a sharp decline in confidence from last month, when 58
percent of Republicans said they thought their party's nominee would
win, versus 23 percent who expected Clinton to prevail.
Among Trump's supporters, 49 percent in the latest poll said they
believed Trump would win, down from 67 percent who felt that way at the
beginning of the month.
"There's still hope, I guess. I just don’t have a great deal of faith in
a good portion of the American public," said Bert Horsley, 38, of
Belgrade, Montana, who said he planned to vote for Trump even though he
believed Clinton would win.
Horsley said he felt the country was leaning increasingly socialist and
that voters were more inclined to focus on Trump's problems than on
issues facing Clinton, including allegations she mishandled classified
emails while secretary of state.
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"The nation’s willing to overlook certain things in some people and not
in others," he said.
Despite the growing pessimism, Trump, who trails Clinton in national
opinion polls, still enjoys overwhelming support from members of his
party. Some 79 percent of likely Republican voters said they would vote
for him. Many said their support was rooted in an expectation he would
promote a conservative agenda in Congress and appoint conservative
justices to the Supreme Court.
Democrats appear to be strongly anticipating a Clinton presidency. Some
83 percent of Democrats said in the poll they thought she would win,
while only 8 percent predicted Trump would become president. Among
Clinton's supporters, 92 percent expected her to win, up from 83 percent
a month earlier.
Clinton held a commanding lead in the race to win the Electoral College
and claim the presidency, according to results from the Reuters/Ipsos
States of the Nation project released on Saturday.
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Hillary Clinton boards her campaign plane at Miami international
airport in Miami, Florida. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
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CONFIDENCE DROP THIS MONTH
Trump, a businessman and former reality television star, has alarmed
mainstream Republicans throughout his campaign by routinely bashing
the political establishment and making a series of provocative
statements.
He aroused criticism for belittling the parents of a U.S. soldier
killed in the Iraq war, calling for a ban on admitting Muslims to
the country and accusing a judge of bias because of his Hispanic
heritage. He has also asserted, without showing evidence, that the
U.S. electoral system is rigged.
But Republicans remained mostly confident in their candidate's
chances until this month, when a videotape from 2005 was released in
which Trump could be heard bragging in vulgar terms about kissing
and groping women.
At least 10 women have since accused Trump of making unwanted sexual
advances, including groping or kissing, from the early 1980s to
2007, according to reports in various news outlets. Trump has denied
the women's allegations, calling them "totally and absolutely false"
and has promised to sue the women after the election.
Trump has also deepened divisions within his party by refusing to
promise to accept the outcome of the election. "I will keep you in
suspense," he said when asked about the issue during an Oct. 19
debate with Clinton.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English with American
adults in all 50 states. The latest poll included 648 people who
identified as Republicans and 771 people who identified as
Democrats. It had a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of
4 percentage points.
(Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Peter Cooney)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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