Presidential race draws even tighter

by NW Spotlight

Trump continues to close on Hillary in the 2016 presidential race, based on Real Clear Politics’ presidential race tracking.

In the past five weeks, Hillary’s advantage in the Real Clear Politics presidential polling averages over Trump has fallen from +5.3 to +3.3 (3 weeks ago) and now to +2.9.

Real Clear Politics snapshots of the 2016 presidential election over the past five weeks also show:

• Hillary’s +18.0 favorability rating had fallen to +7.7 for her, and it has now rebounded slightly to +7.9.

• Hillary’s lead in betting odds had gone from 79-to-21 to 76-to-24 over Trump, and those have continued to edge up for Trump – they are now 73-to-27.

• Hillary’s lead in the battleground states has continued to shrink. A little over five weeks ago Hillary led in every battleground state. Three weeks ago she led in all but one, but with tighter spreads. Today Hillary leads in 3 battleground states and Trump leads in 4.

Most significantly once again, five weeks ago Real Clear Politics presidential poll averages showed Hillary with 272 electoral votes and Trump with 154. 270 electoral votes are needed to win. Three weeks ago Hillary dropped to 229 electoral votes, and Trump still had 154. Today’s Real Clear Politics presidential poll averages show Hillary dropping further to 188 electoral votes, and Trump climbing slightly to 165. The remainder are toss ups.

(click to enlarge)

Five weeks ago former George W. Bush White House press secretary and Fox News political commentator Dana Perino wrote that she believed the polls would tighten after Labor Day – and noted “No candidate has been this behind in August and gone on to win. But I recognize that Trump is unlike any candidate America has ever seen.”