Poll: Clinton builds lead in deeply divided nation
Some likely voters are worried about violence Nov. 8
WASHINGTON As the most caustic campaign in modern American history nears its close, Hillary Clinton has built a formidable lead over Donald Trump, approaching 10 percentage points, a USA TODAY/ Suffolk University Poll finds. But she faces a deeply divided nation that is alarmed about the prospect of Election Day violence and what may be ahead.
A 51 percent majority of likely voters express at least some concern about the possibility of violence on Election Day; 1 in 5 are “very concerned.” Three of 4 say they have confidence that the United States will have the peaceful transfer of power that has marked American democracy for more than 200 years, but just 40 percent say they are “very confident” about that.
More than 4 in 10 Trump supporters say they won’t recognize the legitimacy of Clinton as president if she prevails, because they say she wouldn’t have won fair and square.
“I have no idea who is rigging it, (but) there’s just too many inconsistencies coming from all directions,” said William Lister, 71, a Pittsburgh Democrat who is voting Republican for the first time to support Trump. He was among those polled. His advice: “I think everyone should vote on paper ballots this year.”
Clinton supporters overwhelmingly reject the idea that the vote count can’t be trusted. “It’s 2016, and to be able to rig an election would be impossible at this point,” said Jennifer Neugebauer, 36, an orthodontic technician from Philadelphia and a Clinton enthusiast since her first presidential bid eight years ago.
“I don’t think it’s so much rigged against him,” said Zach- ery Prickett, 21, of Delavan, Wisconsin, who is supporting Jill Stein of the Green Party. “I think he destroyed his own campaign at this point.”
The paradox for Clinton is that she is amassing a solid lead even as unprecedented challenges that could make governing more difficult come into sharp relief.
She now leads Trump among likely voters by 47 percent to 38 percent in a four-way race. Support for third-party candidates has been cut in half since late August, a trend that is common as voting nears. Libertarian Gary Johnson has dropped to 4 percent and Stein to 2 percent. In a two-way race, Clinton leads Trump by 49 percent to 39 percent.
The poll of 1,000 likely voters, taken Thursday through Monday by landline and cellphone, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
If her lead holds up until the results are tallied Nov. 8, Clinton would carry the White House by the widest margin in the popular vote of any candidate since Ronald Reagan’s 49state landslide in 1984.
The mood of the electorate is nothing like the optimism of three decades ago, when Reagan’s gauzy re-election theme was “Morning in America.”
“Since the polls are starting to shift quite a bit towards Hillary Clinton, I’ve been buying a lot more ammunition,” said Rick Darling, 69, an engineer from Harrison Township, in Michigan’s Detroit suburbs. In a follow-up phone interview, the Trump supporter said he fears progressives will want to “declare martial law and take our guns away” after the election.
Few in either camp believe the news media are objective in this election.
By nearly 10 to 1, those surveyed say the news media would like to see Clinton rather than Trump elected. That includes 82 percent of Trump supporters and 74 percent of Clinton supporters.