Donald Trump has effectively erased Hillary Clinton's once commanding national lead and has surged ahead in several key battleground states, including Florida, Ohio, and Iowa, and made significant gains in states Clinton once held comfortably.
Video: Who will Hillary Clinton pick for VP?
After a series of politically devastating weeks, which included her alarming physical collapse on September 11th,
Clinton has seen her national lead of 8 points by average a month ago collapse to a statistically negligible 0.9% advantage
. The LA Times/USC tracking poll shows
Trump with a stunning 7-point lead, while the most recent Fox News polls give Trump a 1-point advantage. Several other respected national polls put him well within the margin of error. Trump has also made major gains in two of the three key swing states, now edging Clinton in both Florida and Ohio — moving him within striking distance of the presidency, though he still has work to do in the battleground states.
If the election were held today, Real Clear Politics' average of state polls without any "tossup" states included gives Clinton 200 electoral votes and Trump 164 — an over 70-vote fall for Clinton over the last month, when the polls showed her easily earning the required 270 electoral votes, and a 10-vote improvement for Trump. Below is RCP's electoral college map based on current state poll averages as of Sep. 18:
As of Sep. 17, RCP's general election average shows Clinton barely clinging to a lead over Trump in a head-to-head matchup, 44.9% to 44%, a 0.9-point advantage (down from 8 points in early August). Clinton currently leads in five of RCP's seven featured polls, her largest lead 5 points (Quinnipiac). Trump leads in the Fox News poll by 1 point, while the LA Times/USC tracking poll, which includes a "bloc of disaffected [Trump] voters" pollsters say have been ignored by other surveys, gives him a comfortable 7-point advantage.
In a four-candidate race, when the Libertarian Party's Gary Johnson and the Green Party's Jill Stein are included, RCP's average as of Sep. 14 gives Clinton an even more precarious 0.7-point lead (41% to 40.3%). Four of the seven featured polls show Clinton ahead; her largest lead only 2 points. Trump leads by 2 points in one poll and is tied with Clinton in two others.
Clinton, who once held an 11-point lead by average in late March,
saw her advantage evaporate over the next few months. After dramatic movement for Trump in late May, including a brief national lead following the Republican National Convention and the FBI's damaging report on Clinton's private email server, the two candidates were deadlocked at 44.3% on July 29, the day after the Democratic National Convention. Over the next three weeks, however, the polls took a downward turn for the Republican, with Clinton building an 8-point lead nationally. In late August, Clinton's lead began to slip as Trump made a series of smart political moves—including visiting Louisiana in the aftermath of the flooding, meeting with the president of Mexico, and giving a number of strong policy speeches—while Clinton appeared to be bunkering down amid
more bad headlines about the Clinton Foundation, her private email server, and her continued health problems.
Both candidates have been polling at higher negatives than any previous two presidential frontrunners, which has largely remained consistent even during times when one candidate has experienced positive movement. As of Sep. 18, Clinton's favorability by average is -13 points, while Trump's favorability is about 6 points worse: -18.8 points. Mirroring other polls,
Clinton has been trending downward in recent weeks, while Trump has seen some improvement.While national polls and favorability ratings are important indicators of the overall popularity of candidates, the state-by-state polls are, of course, what really matters, particularly in the key swing states (Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) and battleground states, like Iowa, where the presidency will ultimately be decided. Below are the most recent polling numbers for 14 battleground states.