Likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 5 points, according to a national poll of registered voters released Tuesday.
Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Trump by a 47 percent to 42 percent margin, according to the CNN/ORC poll. That’s down from a 13-point, 54 percent to 41 percent, advantage Mrs. Clinton had held in late April/early May before both candidates had effectively wrapped up their respective parties’ nominations.
In a four-way contest in the new poll, Mrs. Clinton was in the lead at 42 percent, with Mr. Trump at 38 percent, Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson at 9 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 7 percent.
The survey was taken from June 16-19, after the deadly terrorist attack in Orlando last Sunday in which 49 people were killed and 53 wounded.
Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump were underwater in terms of favorability. Mrs. Clinton had a 42 percent/57 percent favorable/unfavorable split among registered voters, and Mr. Trump had a 40 percent/59 percent split.
A majority of respondents gave Mr. Trump the edge on who would handle the economy better, and a plurality — 48 percent to 45 percent — said he’d be better at handling terrorism. By a 50 percent to 43 percent margin, respondents also said Mr. Trump would be better on gun policy.
More voters — 45 percent to 37 percent — also said Mr. Trump was more honest and trustworthy, and he had a 4-point edge on being a strong and decisive leader.
About two-thirds said Mrs. Clinton did do something wrong by using a personal email address and home-based server when she served as secretary of state.
Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, had leads of more than 40 points when it came to the issues of women’s equality and women’s rights, and a 35-point edge on issues related to gay and lesbian rights.
She also had double-digit leads when it came to foreign policy and nominating U.S. Supreme Court justices.
She had identical 5-point, 50 percent to 45 percent, leads on both immigration and handling trade with other countries — two issues that Mr. Trump has emphasized in his campaign.
And she led Mr. Trump by double digits on having the proper temperament to be president, the ability to handle the responsibilities of commander-in-chief, and exercising good judgment in a crisis.
Among a subset of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, nearly half — 48 percent — still said they’d like to see the Republican party choose someone else as its nominee, compared to 51 percent who said they’d like to see the party pick Mr. Trump.
Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 43 percent still said they’d like to see the party choose Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, compared to 55 percent who said Mrs. Clinton.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.