| Getty National poll: Clinton leads Trump by 5 
 
 Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by five points in a head-to-head matchup in the latest national poll of likely voters from Quinnipiac University out Wednesday, with the advantage narrowing to just two points in a four-way race. Among white voters, Trump leads 51 percent to 41 percent, while among non-whites, Clinton has a 47-point edge of 66 percent to 19 percent. When third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are factored in, the race is tied, with Trump and Clinton each getting the backing of 42 percent of likely voters. While Clinton and Trump retain most of their support when Johnson and Stein are included, slightly more of Clinton’s supporters move to Johnson or Stein, compared to Trump’s supporters. Among registered voters, Clinton has a slight edge over Trump in a four-way contest. Republicans and Trump supporters were more likely to say the election will be close, while more Democrats and Clinton supporters said their candidate would prevail with ease. Support for Johnson’s inclusion was highest among independents (66 percent to 30 percent) and higher among Clinton supporters (60 percent to 33 percent) than Trump backers (50 percent to 46 percent). Story Continued Below 
 
 Regardless of whom they are supporting, majorities voters likely to cast their ballot for Clinton or Trump said their main reason for supporting their candidate was more in opposition of the other option than liking their choice. “This shouldn’t be close, but it’s close,” President Obama said at a fundraiser Tuesday night. The usual racial, educational and gender gaps persist in the latest poll, with Clinton holding the support of 54 percent of women in the head-to-head matchup compared to 36 percent for Trump, who received the support of 50 percent of men to Clinton’s 41 percent. Whites without a college degree are strong supporters of Trump (58 percent back him), while Clinton leads Trump among white voters with a college degree. Matched against only Trump, 48 percent said they would vote for Clinton, with 43 percent choosing the Republican nominee, 3 percent picking someone else and 6 percent undecided. This poll was conducted by telephone September 9-13, 2016 among a random sample of 1,753 adults nationwide, including 1,433 registered voters. The sample of likely voters is modeled among registered voters (N=1,433), assigning each respondent a probability of voting based on their responses. The margin of error for the sample of likely voters is plus or minus three points. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
– The race for the White House does indeed appear to be tightening. A new CBS/New York Times national poll shows Hillary Clinton with just a 2-point lead over Donald Trump among likely voters, 46% to 44% in a two-candidate race, with a 3-point margin of error. With Gary Johnson and Jill Stein in the mix, Clinton and Trump are neck-and-neck at 42% each. Among all registered voters, Clinton fares better. She has a 5-point lead over Trump, 46% to 41%, in a two-candidate race, and a 2-point lead, 41% to 39%, with Johnson and Stein included. But her lead is still diminshed, and her recent bout with pneumonia may have played a role. Just 38% of Democrats said they were excited about voting in the poll of 1,753 from Friday to Tuesday, down from 47% in August. That's compared to 64% of Republicans, down from 77%, though nearly all Trump and Clinton supporters said their minds were made up. "Not since Trump's post-Republican National Convention bump has the GOP nominee seemed to be in such a strong position," though he's "still the underdog," writes David A. Graham at the Atlantic. A Quinnipiac University national poll of 960 likely voters shows Clinton with a 5-point lead over Trump in a head-to-head battle, and a 2-point lead in a four-candidate race with a 3-point margin of error, per Politico.