Hillary Clinton takes 8-point lead over Donald Trump in national poll

Hillary Clinton visits a campaign office in Seattle
(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

A new national George Washington University Battleground poll released Monday has Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by 8 percentage points, 47 percent to 39 percent, among likely voters in a four-way race including Libertarian Gary Johnson, at 8 percent, and Green nominee Jill Stein at 2 percent. In the same poll in September, Clinton led Trump by just 2 points, 42 percent to 40 percent. The poll was conducted Oct. 8-13, after Trump's Access Hollywood lewd hot-mic comments about forcing himself on women, the second presidential debate, and the first women came forward to accuse Trump of groping them.

Clinton gained significant ground over Trump on several issues, including taxes (52-41 percent, a 10-point gain) and foreign affairs (60-33 percent, a 12-point gain), though both candidates remain pretty unpopular — 53 percent view Clinton unfavorably versus 45 percent who view her favorably, while Trump's numbers are 61 percent unfavorable, 36 percent favorable. "Read together, these poll results indicate that increasing numbers of voters are accepting the Hillary Clinton/Democratic Party frame of this election as a referendum on Donald Trump's unfitness for the presidency," said GW's Michael Cornfield.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

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.