Clinton leads Trump in latest Pa., national polls
Hillary Clinton has increased her lead narrowly over Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted after the Democratic convention.
Hillary Clinton has a narrow lead in Pennsylvania, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted entirely after the Democratic convention.
Forty-five percent of voters support Clinton, to 42 for Republican Donald J. Trump, 4 for libertarian Gary Johnson and 2 for the Green Party's Jill Stein, the poll found.
In a head-to-head measurement without the minor-party candidates, Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the state, 49 percent to 44. The Pennsylvania poll and a national survey done at the same time suggest that the race has snapped back to where it was in late June - when Clinton was up on Trump 46 percent to 42 in Pennsylvania, and 48 percent to 44 nationally. The national numbers stand at 50 to 45 percent currently.
The latest CBS News poll, also since the convention, gives Clinton a 7-point edge nationally, 46 percent to 39 percent. The same pollsters had found the rivals tied at 42 after the July 18-21 Republican convention. And CNN said its post-convention poll put Clinton up nine points.
The numbers suggest the conventions and other July campaign events have thus far had a modest impact on the race, with movement perhaps indicating that some undecided partisans skeptical of their parties' nominees moved off the fence and toward the candidates they likely would have supported in the end anyway.
Clinton also has seen a decent improvement in her favorability rating over the last couple of months in Pennsylvania, the poll here found. So has Trump, but not by as much. A burden for both nominees is the degree to which voters don't like them or don't trust them.
"Our polling in Pennsylvania and nationally has found that Hillary Clinton improved her image more with the conventions than Donald Trump did," said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. "And she's also maintained her existing modest - but persistent - lead in the race."
Public Policy Polling surveyed 1,505 likely voters in Pennsylvania from Friday through Sunday. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. Eighty percent of respondents participated by telephone, using an automated response system, while 20 percent took the survey over the Internet.
