Rivals in virtual tie in nat'l poll
Less than two weeks before their first debate, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are in a very tight race for the White House, a national poll showed Wednesday.
The report came as Clinton hits the campaign trail once again after trying to put aside a badly handled health scare that rattled her bid for the US presidency.
The CBS News/New York Times survey found Clinton had just a two-point edge (46 to 44 percent) over her Republican rival in a two-way matchup among likely voters. Among registered voters, the Democratic nominee was five points ahead, at 46 to 41 percent.
When third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein were included, the race was tied among likely voters -- at 42 percent each -- while Clinton had a slight edge (41 to 39 percent) among registered voters.
The CBS/NYT poll also found diminished voter enthusiasm, with Democrats less enthusiastic about voting now than a month ago, while Republicans have kept a steady level of enthusiasm.
And a gender gap is still apparent between the two candidates, with Trump securing a double-digit lead ahead of Clinton among men, while she has a similar margin over him among women.
According to separate polls, Trump has a significant lead over rival Clinton in the crucial battleground states of Ohio and Florida.
A Bloomberg poll, which surveyed 802 Ohio residents between 9 and 12 September, found that Trump won 48 per cent to Clinton's 43 per cent in a two-way contest.
A separate poll from JMC Analytics this week found that the Republican also has a four-point lead over Clinton in the swing state of Florida.
The numbers are a blow to the Clinton campaign which normally enjoys an advantage nationally and in swing states.
Yesterday, the Democratic candidate had events planned in North Carolina and Washington as she resumed campaigning after a three day break prompted by a bout of pneumonia.
Clinton, 68, fell ill during a 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York on Sunday and was forced to leave. She was seen stumbling limp-legged into her vehicle.
On Wednesday, Clinton released new medical records that purported to show she is fit to serve as president and is recovering from mild pneumonia.
The disclosure came as her Republican rival Donald Trump, 70, released health data of his own during the taping of a nationally televised medical chat show set to air yesterday.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday, nearly half of American adults are "very concerned" about two issues that have hounded Clinton's presidential campaign this year: her use of a private email server to conduct government business and donations to her family's charitable foundation.
The Sept 2-11 online poll found that 46 percent of American adults said they were "very concerned" about Clinton's use of a personal email account, while 47 percent said the same about donations from foreign governments or corporations to the Clinton Foundation.
Since the beginning of August, a growing portion of Americans have expressed a negative view of Clinton. Yet, when asked to pick between her and Trump for president, Americans have given a small, but consistent advantage to Clinton.
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