Hillary Clinton holds a solid 6-point lead over Donald Trump heading into the first presidential debate next Monday, according to a new national poll released Friday.
The McClatchy-Marist poll found Clinton leading Trump 45% to 39% among likely voters in a four-way race. Libertarian Gary Johnson garnered 10% support, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein polled at 4%. A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll this week found Clinton leading by a similar margin, 43% to 37%.
Clinton maintains a massive lead among black voters in the new poll, pacing Trump 93% to 3% despite high-profile efforts by the Trump campaign to improve its outreach to minority voters. Clinton also has a large advantage over Trump among Latinos, 74% to 16%, but her support shrinks to 60% when third-party options are included.
Both candidates continue to struggle with low favorability numbers — 40% of likely voters say they have a favorable opinion of Clinton, and 37% say the same about Trump.
Trump has a slight edge on the question of who is “honest and trustworthy,” as 44% of likely voters think he is, while 36% think that Clinton is. The two run about even when voters pick who “shares their values” and who “cares about people like them.” And Clinton beats Trump handily on “know how to do the job” and temperament.
With the candidates’ health on the minds of voters following Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis earlier this month, respondents were asked who has more stamina to be president — 53% said that Trump does, while just 39% said the same of Clinton.
Voters gave Clinton the edge over Trump on a series of key issues. On terrorism (52% to 41%), immigration (54% to 41%), creating good jobs (49% to 43%) and trade (52% to 42%), Clinton is viewed as the better candidate.
The McClatchy-Marist poll was conducted through September 15 to 20, and surveyed 758 likely voters. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.6 points.
