A pair of new polls out this weekend show the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and his likely Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton are both viewed unfavorably by more than half of U.S. voters.
In a Washington Post-ABC News survey released Sunday, the candidates both registered net negatives in the double-digits, with 57% of the electorate saying they had unfavorable impressions of the respective candidates. Fifty-four percent of respondents to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll took a dim view of Clinton, while 58% looked unfavorably on Trump.
The horse race itself is swinging toward the billionaire businessman, who according to the Washington Post-ABC News poll has picked up 11 points since March, giving him a narrow 46%-44% lead. But the sum result in both surveys is a statistical dead heat. Clinton leads by 3 points, 46%-43%, in the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Both results are within the margin of error.
Trump’s recent bump coincides with a growing sense of acceptance among Republican establishment figures. From former primary opponents to elected officials on Capitol Hill, the GOP is broadly warming to its likely standard-bearer.
Efforts by the #NeverTrump movement to draft a conservative challenger have been all but abandoned. Perhaps the most popular figure in the GOP, House Speaker Paul Ryan, has signaled a desire for détente with Trump.
On the Democratic side, Clinton remains the front-runner but has yet to actually clinch the number of delegates necessary to defeat rival Bernie Sanders. But the Vermont senator is not going quietly, and the left is now seemingly at odds with itself as Democrats squabble over the allocation of delegates.
Indeed, both polls show the most popular candidate in either party is Sanders, who to his benefit has largely avoided any especially negative attacks during the primary. The Washington Post-ABC News poll shows the Vermont independent with a net positive favorability rating (49% to 41%), which essentially matched the NBC News/Wall Street Journal findings.