Washington: With the Presidential campaign heading into its final two weeks, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 5 points with the Democratic nominee’s support just shy of the 50% mark, according to a new CNN/ORC poll.
Keeping all three presidential debates in mind, both candidates appear to have consolidated some support among their core supporters as Clinton has expanded her edge among younger voters and non-whites, while Trump has boosted his support among the whites without college degrees who make up the majority of his supporters, CNN reports.
Clinton now stands at 53% among voters under age 45, compared with 47% in the previous CNN/ORC poll.
Clinton’s support has also ticked up a few points among non-whites (72% back her now vs. 69% in a poll conducted just after the first debate, not a large enough change to be significant, but edges her margin over Trump among this group above 50 points).
Trump has gained a bit among white voters, edging up to 54% in the new poll from 49% support in the last poll. That gain is centered largely among white non-college voters, who break for Trump by a 62% to 32% margin, while white college grads continue to lean in Clinton’s direction, favoring the former secretary of state by 11 points.
However, the gender gap remains large, with Clinton holding a wide 12-point lead among women, topping Trump 53% to 41% among that group, while Trump edges Clinton by narrow 3-points among men, 48% to 45%.
The most promising finding in the poll for Trump is his continued edge as more trusted to handle the economy.
Overall, 51% favor Trump on that vs. 47% who prefer Clinton, a shift in Trump’s favor compared with a 2-point edge for Trump in the last poll.
Clinton tops Trump on every other issue tested this way in the poll, including terrorism (Clinton +2), immigration (Clinton +3), nominating justices to the Supreme Court (+5) and foreign policy (+21). But the economy continues to be voters’ top issue, 91% call it extremely or very important. (ANI)