Trump narrows Clinton gap to just six points: Poll

Donald Trump is growing increasingly competitive in a general election matchup against Hillary Clinton, trailing the Democratic frontrunner by six points in a poll that shows the race tightening.

Trump leads the broad Republican field by double digits. The political neophyte has dominated media coverage since he launched his campaign in June, steadily narrowing the gap against Clinton, according to a CNN/ORC poll which has tracked such matchups for months. Clinton now leads Trump by 51 percent to 45 percent, a dramatically more competitive race than July`s 56-40 spread and June`s 59-35, the poll results showed.

Trump registered gains among Republicans and Republican-leading independents, whose support surged from 67 percent in July to 79 percent now; men (from 46 percent in July to 53 percent now); and white voters (from 50 percent to 55 percent).

While Trump gains, Clinton`s fortunes have slipped.  Democratic voters still have her leading in their party`s nomination race, but with just 47 percent support, down nine points since July and the first time her backing has dropped below 50 percent in CNN/ORC national polling on the 2016 presidential race. Liberal US Senator Bernie Sanders is second with 29 percent — a surge of 10 points since July. Vice President Joe Biden, who is not officially a candidate but is mulling jumping into the race, is third with 14 percent.

Former Maryland governor Martin O`Malley has two percent support, while the remaining two Democrats have one percent or less.

Hillary Clinton is opposing President Barack Obama’s authorisation for oil drilling in the Alaska Arctic and his delays on the Keystone XL pipeline, in some of the clearest signs of the Democratic front-runner distancing herself from the president.

Having agreed with him on most issues so far in her 2016 race, Clinton edged to Obama’s left on climate change this time. In the course of a few hours, she announced her disapproval of his move to allow Royal Dutch Shell to drill in the Arctic Ocean and her impatience for a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline Alberta in Canada to Texas.

Clinton argued on Twitter that the Arctic is a unique treasure and “not worth the risk of drilling.” Then as she took questions from reporters later in Nevada, she said the US should be focusing on cleaner sources of renewable energy, rather than risking “potential catastrophes” in the search for more oil. “I think the very great difficulties that Shell encountered the last time they tried to do that should be a red flag for anybody,” Clinton said, referring to a setback that beset the oil giant when it tried to drill there in 2012, including a rig that ran aground.

In the early months of her campaign, Clinton has rarely disagreed publicly with Obama, who remains popular among core Democratic voters but much less so among the broader American public. Her biggest rebuff came in June when she declined to support giving Obama expedited negotiating authority on trade. Even then, she characterized her position as more of a wait-and-see approach than outright opposition to the trade deals he’s pursuing.