Election 2016: The Home Stretch

nytimes.com

nytimes.com

Munthir Chater, Staff Writer

November 8th, Election Day, is less than a month away, and the candidates running for President have a last chance opportunity to make an impression, influence the public, and gain support.

For Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, they have a last chance to sway undecided voters. For Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, the Libertarian and Green Party candidates respectively, they have a last chance effort to gain popularity by any means necessary.

After the second presidential debate, national polls favored Clinton, who held a large lead over Trump. According to Politico.com, “Clinton leads Trump in the four-way race for the presidency among likely voters, 42 percent to 37 percent, with Gary Johnson at 10 percent and Jill Stein at three percent. In the initial two-way ballot, Clinton’s lead is also five points, 46 percent to 41 percent.”

In different polls, specifically NBC News and Wall Street Journal polls, People.com states: “Clinton has the support of 46 percent of likely voters in a four-way match-up, while Trump has 37 percent, Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson has eight percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein has two percent. In a two-way race, Clinton leads Trump by 10 points, 50 percent to 40 percent.” The recent leaked video and audio of Donald Trump talking of sexually assaulting women continued that trend.

These past few weeks have especially been rough for Trump, as support for him continues to drop, not only in national polls, but also among Republican allies. John McCain “renounced the candidate”, according to newyorker.com. While House Speaker Paul Ryan recently stated “he would no longer defend or campaign for the Presidential nominee.” Trump needs to stop his fall soon and win a solid victory over Hillary Clinton in the last presidential debate to recover and have a chance to win the election.

For Hillary, she needs to continue to build off the Trump leaks and have a good debate next week to defeat Trump. Any controversy regarding Clinton could be problematic, especially if it arises before the debate, which would be a good opportunity for Trump to strike and sway undecided voters.