Poll: Clinton leads by double digits nationally

Hillary Clinton has opened up a 12-point national lead over Donald Trump among likely voters with less than a month to go before Election Day, a new poll finds.

{mosads}Clinton takes 50 percent support in the Monmouth University survey released Monday, which has Trump at 38 percent. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson has 5 percent support, and the Green Party’s Jill Stein takes 2 percent.

Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, led by only 4 points in the same poll last month, edging Trump 46 percent to 42 percent.

It’s the third recent poll to show Clinton leading by double digits nationally, although other surveys show a tighter race. An ABC News/Washington Post survey released over the weekend put her advantage at only 4 points over Trump, the Republican nominee, well within that survey’s margin of error.

The RealClearPolitics average shows Clinton leading Trump by 6.3 points nationally in a four-way race.

Clinton’s lead in the new poll is reduced to 9 points, 47 percent to 38 percent, among all registered voters nationally.

Clinton’s lead among likely voters is larger because Monmouth determined that only 5 percent of her supporters are unlikely to vote, compared to 10 percent of Trump’s supporters.

Last month, those numbers were almost flipped, with 10 percent of Clinton’s registered supporters deemed unlikely to vote, against 7 percent for Trump.

“Clinton has increased her lead among all registered voters, but the main difference between this month and last month is that her supporters have become more enthusiastic, and thus more likely to turn out while Trump backers have become less likely to vote,” said Monmouth pollster Patrick Murray.

While both candidates are deep underwater on favorability, Trump continues to sink in popularity, while Clinton appears to have leveled off.

Only 38 percent of voters view Clinton favorably, compared to 52 percent who have a negative view of her. That’s a slight improvement over last month, when Clinton posted a 36-54 split.

Trump is down to 26 percent positive and 61 percent negative, a drop from his 32-57 rating last month.

Sixty percent of voters say Clinton has the right temperament to be president, compared to only 31 percent who say the same about Trump.

Clinton also leads on the question of which candidate is considered the “lesser of two evils,” with 47 percent saying they’ll vote to make sure Trump does not get elected, and only 40 percent saying the same about Clinton.

The poll found Trump has been badly damaged by the audio release of his obscene remarks from 2005 and the mounting allegations from women who say he sexually harassed them.

Sixty-two percent of voters said they believe the allegations against Trump are credible.

Trump’s remarks about grabbing women and getting away with it because he’s a celebrity ignited a stampede of Republican defections away from his campaign.

The Republican National Committee is sticking by Trump, but the remarks earned him rebukes from party leaders like Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).

That has angered Trump’s supporters, with 81 percent saying the Republican Party is not giving the GOP nominee the support he deserves.

Still, that question cuts both ways — only 52 percent of Trump’s supporters say the GOP nominee is doing enough to support the party, while 30 percent of Trump’s supporters say he is giving too little support.

Pollsters also found that the steady stream of hacked Clinton campaign emails published by WikiLeaks does not appear to be much of a drag on the Democratic nominee.

Only 25 percent of respondents said Clinton’s remarks made to Wall Street banks in paid speeches make them less likely to support her. Almost half, 45 percent, said the remarks had no impact on how they view her, and 28 percent said they were unaware of the WikiLeaks dump.

The Monmouth University survey of 805 registered voters nationwide was conducted between Oct. 14 and Oct. 16 and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.