Clinton’s lead shrinks
The presidential race has become a lot less clear over the last few weeks.
Back in mid-August, Hillary Clinton held a large lead over Donald Trump.
Since then, her lead has slipped — but how far isn’t so obvious. The various forecasting models and polling averages have split about as much as they have all year.
What’s going on?
CLINTON LOST HER HUGE LEAD
In mid-August, Clinton led by around 8 percentage points in national polling. Since then, there hasn’t been much evidence to confirm that large margin.
Yes, there have been a few polls showing
NEW YORK — Hillary Clinton defended anew her handling of classified information as secretary of state Wednesday night, insisting she did not jeopardize national security by discussing the Obama administration’s drone program and other sensitive matters on a personal email account.
Speaking at a televised national security forum, Clinton also defended her support for U.S. military intervention in Libya, despite the chaos that has consumed that country since then. The Democratic nominee urged voters to weigh her readiness to be president not based on one decision but “on the totality of my record.”
Clinton and Republican Donald Trump spoke back-to-back but not face-to-face at the forum, hosted by NBC. The candidates also took questions from an audience of veterans and active-duty troops gathered on the decommissioned USS Intrepid, which is now a floating museum in New York.
Trump levied unusual criticism against America’s military leaders, saying the generals have been “reduced to rubble” during President Barack Obama’s administration. He also suggested he would shake up the military’s top ranks if he wins in November, saying there would probably be “different generals.”
Trump remained persistently vague about his plans for defeating the Islamic State group, insisting that he privately has a blueprint for taking on the terror group but wanted to remain “unpredictable.”
“I have a very substantial chance of winning,” he said. “If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.”
By virtue of a coin flip, Clinton took the stage first. She quickly faced a barrage of questions about her email use at the State Department, where she used a personal email address and a private server.
The FBI found some emails sent or received by Clinton contained classified information, but Director James Comey did not recommend she face prosecution. According to notes released from Clinton’s interview with the FBI, she said she relied on others with knowledge about handling classified files.
Clinton drew an implicit contrast with Trump when asked for the most important quality a commander in chief must possess.
“Steadiness, an absolute rock steadiness, mixed with strength to make the hard decisions,” she said.
She said she couldn’t promise there would be no terror attacks on U.S. soil if she becomes president, calling preventing terrorism “a huge challenge.”