Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 5 points in new national poll

Hillary Clinton speaks at a New York City fundraiser — (Image credit: Getty Images)

In a four-way race including Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green candidate Jill Stein, Hillary Clinton has a 5-percentage-point lead over Donald Trump among likely voters, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll released on Sunday. When looking at all registered voters, Clinton's 46 percent to 41 percent lead opens to a 10-point advantage, 45 percent to 35 percent. Johnson has the support of 9 percent of likely voters in the poll and Stein polls at 2 percent. Clinton's 10-point lead among registered voters is actually a 2-point improvement from last month's poll, though other recent national and swing-state surveys have shown a tightening race between Clinton and Trump.

The Washington Post/ABC News poll highlights the challenges and advantages each candidate has with less that two months to go until Election Day. At this point in the race, Trump's supporters are more enthusiastic about their candidate, more engaged in the election, and 93 percent of them say they are sure to vote, versus only 80 percent of Clinton backers. Clinton has a 75 percent to 13 percent lead over Trump among non-white voters, she is tied with him among college-educated white men, and leads him by double-digits among college-educated women, but Trump leads among all white voters, 50 percent to 36 percent. By 2 points, voters judge Clinton more honest and trustworthy than Trump, the poll finds.

Trump's problem with college-educated white men, a group the GOP has won in the past nine elections, "shows the scale of Trump's problem," says The Washington Post's Philip Bump. "His position in the polls has improved. But he continues to need to expand his base if he's to have a real shot at challenging Clinton's lead. Trump spent a month putting a focus on black voters and dallying briefly with softening his position on immigration in an apparent attempt to build a strong relationship with Hispanics. It didn't work." The poll was conducted Sept. 5-8 among 1,002 adults; the margin of error among registered voters is ±4 points and among likely voters, ±4.5 points. You can read the granular details at The Washington Post.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.