Clinton maintains lead in polls even as race tightens in battleground states


Hillary Clinton managed to hang onto her lead in the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, with most voters saying late October scandals regarding the candidates have not affected their vote. Clinton leads 45 percent to Trump's 42 percent, although the difference is within the poll's margin of error.
Another new poll, by Reuters/Ipsos, shows Clinton ahead by 6 points. The Reuters result was better for Clinton than an ABC News/Washington Post poll from Wednesday that found Clinton and Trump tied, and more bullish than many of the polling averages.
But at a state-by-state level, Clinton's firewall is no longer so daunting; Trump is even with Clinton in the battleground state of New Hampshire, which had been leaning blue in recent months. A WBUR-FM poll in the state showed Trump ahead by one point, at 40 percent to 39 percent.
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The Times/CBS poll was conducted with 1,333 registered voters from Oct. 28 to Nov. 1 on cellphones and landlines and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent. The WBUR poll surveyed 500 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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