Americans now favor Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton by a significant margin according to a new CNN/ORC poll, which attributes Trump’s jump in popularity to the recently concluded Republican Convention.
In his best showing since September 2015, Trump now commands a remarkable 44% to 39% lead over the Democrat candidate in the race for the White House, when compared in a four-way matchup including Gary Johnson (9%) and Jill Stein (3%).
When just the two candidates are considered, the new poll has Trump leading Clinton by a margin of 48% to 45%, which CNN calls a “6-point convention bounce” for Trump, who went into the convention behind his opponent.
In an important turning of the tide, Trump’s recent gains come primarily from self-declared independent voters, 46% of whom say they now support Trump, as opposed to only 31% who favored the Republican prior to the Convention.
Clinton, on the other hand, has suffered a comparable loss of support among independents, down to only 28% from the 34% that favored her before Cleveland.
Trump also experienced a significant jump in backing from blue-collar workers, with support from whites without college degrees now exceeding 62% as opposed to only to 23% in support of Clinton.
The Cleveland Convention bore other benefits for Trump as well, with his overall favorability rating now at 46% of registered voters, compared to his pre-convention rating of 39%.
In voters’ minds, Trump tops his opponent by double-digit margins in his ability to manage the economy and terrorism, two issues of paramount importance for the upcoming election.
Regarding his personal image, a majority of Americans believe that Trump is running for president for the good of the country rather than personal gain, whereas less than half of voters believe that about Clinton.
Trump also registered notable gains in public perception of his honesty, trustworthiness, ability to unite the country and understanding of the problems ordinary Americans face in their daily lives.
In all of these categories Clinton’s ratings have fallen, with a whopping 68% of Americans now saying that Clinton is dishonest and not trustworthy, her worst rating ever in CNN/ORC polling.
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome
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