Advantage Hillary: Clinton widens lead as first debate looms

By Jonathan Easley - 09/23/16 06:02 AM EDT

Hillary Clinton has wrested back a clear advantage in polls over Donald Trump just days before their first critical debate.

An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll conducted this week — viewed by some election experts as the gold standard – found the Democrat leading Trump by six points nationally. And while the candidates are running neck and neck in the RealClearPolitics national average, the NBC News-WSJ survey found Trump has failed to meaningfully cut into Clinton’s significant advantages with Hispanics, African-Americans, young voters, women or those with a college education.

Instead, Trump’s recent polling strength appears to have energized Clinton’s supporters, who now match Trump’s supporters in enthusiasm. And Clinton’s ace-in-the-hole is a battleground map that will require Trump to draw a near-perfect hand.

The GOP nominee will have to run the table on states where the race is currently a toss-up – Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Nevada among them — and then pull out victory in a traditionally blue state.

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http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/297352-clinton-regains-advantage-in-polls