Clinton’s lead over Trump shrinks to 4 points in national poll

A new poll shows Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s lead over her Republican rival, Donald Trump, has shrunk to 4 points in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential race.

According to Pew Research Center poll, released on Thursday, the former secretary of state has 41 percent of the votes as compared to Trump enjoying a 37-percent support in a four-candidate match-up.

In that scenario, Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson earned 10 percent, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein bagged 4 percent.

Clinton holds a 19-percentage point lead among women, with 49 percent to 30 percent, but Trump is leading by 12 points among men, with 45 percent to 33 percent.

Clinton has a solid lead of 39 points over Trump among those with postgraduate degrees, 59 percent to 21 percent, and Trump leads 41 percent to 36 percent among those with some or no college experience.

A majority of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Trump, with 55 percent saying he would make a poor or terrible president, while 45 percent saying the same about Clinton.

Thirty-one percent say Clinton would make a good or great president, while 27 percent say the same of Trump.

Those who back Trump say, 81 percent to 11 percent, that life is worse now for US citizens than it was 50 years ago. However, Clinton supporters — 59 percent — say life is better than five decades ago and 19 percent say it is worse.

The poll was conducted from August 9 to 16 among a national sample of 2,010 adults, including 1,557 registered voters. The margin of error is 2.5 points for the total sample and 2.8 points for registered voters.

However, according to another poll, also released on Thursday, Clinton has a good lead over Trump in the key states of Colorado, Virginia, and Iowa.

The former secretary of state beats the New York billionaire 49 to 39 percent in Colorado, the Quinnipiac University poll showed.

Also in Virginia, Clinton holds a big lead, 50 to 38 percent, while in Iowa she is three percent ahead of the real estate mogul, 47 to 44.

The former first lady’s leads were slimmer when third-party candidates, Johnson and Stein were added to the equation.