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Post-debate Michigan poll puts Clinton up 12
A Detroit News poll conducted after the second presidential debate shows Hillary Clinton up by almost 12 percentage points over Donald Trump in Michigan.
According to The Detroit News poll conducted Monday and Tuesday, Clinton garnered 42.2 percent of support from likely voters, compared to Trump’s 30.6 percent. Third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein received 10.3 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. In a one-on-one race, 47 percent of supporters favored Clinton and 33 percent preferred Trump.
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Trump did considerably better in the last Detroit News survey, administered Sept. 27 and 28, when he polled at 35.1 percent in a four-way race and Clinton was at 41.9 percent.
A pollster with Glengariff Group, which administered the survey, warned that Trump’s standing could mean disastrous results for down-ballot Republicans — what he called a “lurking tsunami.” The poll also found that Michigan voters preferred Democratic congressional candidates to Republicans by a 7-point margin, 42.3 percent to 35.2 percent.
“He is continuing to hemorrhage support,” Richard Czuba told the newspaper, referring to the Republican nominee. “And if he does not do something to stanch the loss of his Republican support immediately, this is going to get completely out of hand for the entire Republican ticket.”
Since last Friday’s release of a damaging recording showing Trump touting his ability to get away with sexual assault, many Republicans have panicked, worried that a subsequent slide in the polls for their nominee will jeopardize their own congressional majorities.
The post-debate survey in Michigan found that 31 percent of those polled indicated that “the Trump recording made them less likely to vote for him,” compared to 55 percent who said it was not a factor in their decision, according to the Detroit News.
Still, it looks like Trump has support from much of his base in Michigan: Only a quarter of Republicans surveyed said he should drop out of the race. Among all likely voters polled, 42.8 percent said he should step down, while just less than half said he should stay in.
Democrats have won Michigan in every presidential election since 1992, but from early on, the Trump campaign argued that it could make the state competitive, like other parts of the Rust Belt, because of his anti-trade message’s resonance with white working-class voters.