WASHINGTON: Whatever Donald Trump has done in recent days, or not done — he basically kept out of trouble—is working: the race for the White House has tightened as it entered what is generally called the final stretch on Monday.
The Republican nominee has not only slashed his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s lead from 7.7 in early August to 4 points in the Real Clear Politics average of polls, but also overtaken her in some. He leads herby 2 points in a daily tracker run by LA Times and by 1 point in a poll by Reuters/Ipsos released last Friday.
“Clinton’s lead gone, Trump ahead in another national #poll. Happy #LaborDay weekend!” Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway tweeted, citing the Reuters poll.
In an election year, Labor Day, a holiday, means more than just a long weekend. It marks the beginning of the final stretch of the race, with poll numbers losing their “post-convention bump” and settling down into a more stable pattern. This is not to say Clinton’ s 4- point lead in the average of polls will hold till Election Day, November 8, but pundits don’t expect to see it dip by much unless she tanks in the debates, the first of which takes place on September 26. Or, she is hit by something called the “October surprise”, a race-changing setback suffered so close to polls candidates have little or no time to recover.
But for now, the Trump campaign is clearly both relieved and thrilled to see their candidate cut Clinton’s lead that had begun to look insurmountable, and even overtake her. “The ground has truly shifted ,” Trump’ s communications director Jason Miller told The Wall Street Journal, referring to him getting more support among Republicans, which has pushed up his numbers. “This is a jump ball.”
{{/usCountry}}But for now, the Trump campaign is clearly both relieved and thrilled to see their candidate cut Clinton’s lead that had begun to look insurmountable, and even overtake her. “The ground has truly shifted ,” Trump’ s communications director Jason Miller told The Wall Street Journal, referring to him getting more support among Republicans, which has pushed up his numbers. “This is a jump ball.”
{{/usCountry}}Coming out of the convention, the Republican nominee saw his 2-point lead disappear in a week after Clinton’s convention, through self-inflicted wounds. Trump has turned since then. He revamped his campaign team, the second time in as many months, and gave up his freewheeling style of campaigning.