For the first time since mid-July, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is trailing her Republican opponent Donald Trump in the weekly Rasmussen Reports White House Watch national survey.
Clinton led Trump last week 42 percent to 38 percent in the poll, with Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson trailing behind them with 9 percent. On Thursday, Rasmussen reported Trump having 40 percent support compared to Clinton’s 39 percent support.
Over the course of the last month, Clinton’s support has been losing momentum and has actually trended down, according to Rasmussen.
Clinton’s support has been trending down from a high of 44% in early August just after the Democratic National Convention. This is her lowest level of support since mid-July. Trump’s support has been eroding, too, from his high of 44% at that time. A one-point lead is statistically insignificant in a survey with a +/- 3 percentage point of margin of error. It highlights, however, that this remains a very close race.
Trump and Clinton have both lost supporters within their own party over the last week with voters switching parties.
Both major candidates have lost some support this week from voters in their respective parties. Trump now has the backing of 71% of Republicans, down from 76% a week ago. Clinton has 73% of the Democratic vote, down from 79% in the previous survey. Trump attracts 15% of Democrats, while 12% of Republicans prefer Clinton. The GOP nominee continues to hold a small lead among voters not affiliated with either major political party, this week leading 36% to 28%.
Johnson draws support from 8% of Republicans, 3% of Democrats, and 12% of unaffiliated voters. [Jill] Stein earns 6% of the vote among unaffiliateds.
The survey was conducted on Aug. 29 and 30 among 1,000 likely voters. The margin of sampling error is +/-3 percentage points.
According to Rasmussen, Trump might have some hidden support among potential voters planning on casting their vote for the Republican but who fear criticism in voicing their support publicly.
The survey showed both candidates’ appeal to various demographic groups.
Trump holds a 44% to 37% lead among men, while Clinton holds a similar 41% to 36% advantage among women.
Blacks continue to strongly support Clinton, while Trump leads by 10 among whites. Other minority voters prefer Clinton 43% to 35%.
A majority of all voters think both of the major presidential candidates are liars and give them equally low marks as potential used car salesmen.
Most voters believe the media, not the candidates, are driving the agenda this election season.