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WEBVTT >> SINCE THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION, DONALD TRUMP HAS RETURNED TO NEW HAMPSHIRE SEVEN TIMES TO DEFEND THE TURF HE WON IN THE PRIMARY. LESS THAN A MONTH BEFORE THE GENERAL ELECTION, HILLARY CLINTON HAS GAINED TRACTION AS SHE HAS OPENED UP A 15 POINT LEAD OVER TRUMP. >> THE RACE IS BREAKING FOR HILLARY CLINTON WITH THREE WEEKS TO GO. >> THE MAJORITY OF VOTERS SEE CLINTON AS A CANDIDATE TEST EQUIPPED TO HANDLE ISSUES LIKE THE ECONOMY, ISIS, AND THE BEST TO LEAD ON THE CORE ISSUE OF IMMIGRATION. CLINTON BEATS TRUMP WHEN THEY ASKED WHO IS THE BEST ROLE MODEL FOR CHILDREN. THE NUMBERS SHOW HILLARY CLINTON IS THE LEAST POPULAR NOMINEE IN THE HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS EXCEPT FOR DONALD TRUMP. IF THE REPUBLICANS HAD NOMINATED ANYBO BESIDES DONALD TRUMP, THEY WOULD'VE HAD A PRETTY EASY GO. >> THE VETERAN POLITICAL REPORTER SAYS TRUMPS OFF THE FIELD ISSUES HAVE MANAGED TO MITIGATE WHAT COULD'VE BEEN A POTENTIALLY DEADLY WIKI LEAKS SCANDAL. TONIGHT, THE DUO WILL DEBATE FOR THE LAST TIME BEFORE THE ELECTION. THERE ARE DOUBTS THAT TRUMP HAD THE ABILITY TO RIGHT THE SHIP. >> HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO IT BETTER. FIGHTING AGAINST THE TRUMP HEADWINDS THERE. >> WE WILL FIND OUT WHAT IMPACT TRUMP IS HAVING ON THE

Advertisement WMUR poll: Clinton widens lead to 15 percentage points over Trump in Granite State Both candidates unpopular; Trump struggles to unify GOP base Share Shares Copy Link Copy

New Hampshire, with its four electoral votes, is viewed nationally as a key battleground state in the presidential election, but according to a new WMUR Granite State Poll, it is turning into Clinton Country. Democrat Hillary Clinton has expanded her lead over Republican Donald Trump and now leads by 15 percentage points, according to the poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. The poll was conducted among 907 New Hampshire adults, including 770 self-described likely general election voters, from Oct. 11-17. The poll found 48 percent of likely voters support Clinton and 33 percent back Trump, with 7 percent for Libertarian Gary Johnson, 2 percent for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, 4 percent preferring another candidate and 5 percent undecided. The margin of Clinton’s lead was unchanged when the sample included likely voters who were leaning toward a candidate. Clinton received the support of 49 percent, Trump was backed by 34 percent, with 8 percent for Johnson, 2 percent for Stein, 5 percent for someone else and 3 percent undecided. The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. View the full poll results here. Clinton’s margin is now larger than it has been since April, when she led Trump 50 percent to 31 percent. In a July poll conducted during the Republican National Convention, she and Trump were tied at 37 percent. But in August, Clinton regained the lead, 43 percent to 32 percent. The New Hampshire poll comes as national polling also shows the race turning Clinton’s way. A national Bloomberg Politics poll released on Wednesday showed Clinton with a 47 percent to 38 percent lead, with Johnson at 8 percent and Stein at 3 percent. The Real Clear Politics national average of polls taken through Tuesday showed Clinton leading Trump, 48.6 percent to 42.1 percent. In New Hampshire, the new WMUR Granite State Poll showed a wider Clinton lead than other recent polls of the state. Through Wednesday afternoon, the Real Clear Politics New Hampshire average had Clinton leading Trump, 43.5 percent to 38.8 percent, with 8.8 percent for Johnson and 3 percent for Stein. UNH Survey Center Director Andrew Smith said the WMUR Granite State Poll reflects fallout from the series of allegations against Trump by a number of women regarding sexual misconduct. Trump has denied the allegations and has charged that the election is “rigged” and the national media is favoring Clinton. Smith said the release of thousands of controversial emails involving Clinton and member of her campaign have not been covered by the media as extensively as the allegations against Trump, and, as a result, are not factoring into voters’ decisions as heavily as the allegations against Trump. “Donald Trump’s problem is that sex sells in American politics,” Smith said. “All of this salacious material will attract the media and the voters’ attention to a greater degree than political scandals and Wikileaks files.” Unpopular candidates The WMUR Granite State Poll showed both candidates remain unpopular in New Hampshire, with Trump substantially more unpopular than Clinton. Only 26 percent of New Hampshire likely voters have a favorable opinion of Trump, while 69 percent viewed him unfavorably and 4 percent were neutral. In July, Trump was viewed favorably by 32 percent and unfavorably by 61 percent. Clinton was viewed favorably in the new poll by 43 percent and unfavorably by 53 percent. In July, she was viewed favorably by 36 percent and unfavorably by 58 percent. The survey center also asked respondents to say one word that came to mind when they thought of Clinton or Trump. The center presented the results as word clouds in its polling memo. The word cloud for Clinton can be seen below. And the word cloud for Trump can been seen at left, below the Clinton word cloud. WMUR redacted an unacceptable term in the Trump word cloud, which the survey center said was used by 12 percent of the respondents. Unifying the base Smith said Trump’s most significant problem in New Hampshire is what appears to be an inability to unify Republican voters behind him. The polled found that Trump has the support of 75 percent of self-identified likely Republican voters, while Clinton had the support of 87 percent of likely Democratic voters. “Republicans haven’t gotten behind Trump as strongly as Democrats have coalesced behind Clinton, and that is a significant problem for him,” Smith said. “He has to get 95 percent of Republicans to win in New Hampshire.” Trump has been unable to hold onto the support of about one of every 10 Granite Staters who said they voted for him in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. The poll found that 88 percent of his primary supporters said they support him now. He also receives the support of 85 percent of those who voted in the primary for Marco Rubio, 74 percent of those who backed Ted Cruz, 65 percent of those who voted for Carly Fiorina, 64 percent of those who voted for Chris Christie, 51 percent of those who voted for Ben Carson and 42 percent of those voted for Jeb Bush. Only 17 percent of those who voted for second-place primary finisher John Kasich said they support Trump. Meanwhile, Clinton has retained the support of 99 percent of her primary supporters and has also drawn the support of 79 percent of those who said they voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary. Smith also noted that independents now favor Clinton over Trump by a margin of 36 percent to 24 percent, with 21 percent for Johnson and 7 percent for Stein. In an August WMUR Granite State Poll, Johnson led among this all-important group with 37 percent, while Clinton and Trump each received 24 percent. In other key findings, the poll showed: -- Clinton leading among women, 57 percent to 30 percent, and among men by a narrow margin of 40 percent to 38 percent. -- 62 percent said Clinton has the right experience to be president, while 18 percent named Trump. -- 51 percent said Clinton would be better at handling immigration policies, while 35 percent named Trump. -- 48 percent said Clinton would better handle the threat from the terrorist group ISIS, while 36 percent chose Trump. -- On dealing with the economy, 45 percent preferred Clinton and 42 percent chose Trump. -- 52 percent said Clinton is the better role model for children, compared to 10 percent for Trump. The poll also found that with less than three weeks until the election, 71 percent of New Hampshire likely voters have now definitely decided who they will vote for on Nov. 8, while 14 percent are leaning toward a candidate and 15 percent are still trying to decide. Among Democrats, 81 percent have decided who they will vote for, while only 65 percent of Republicans have made that final decision. Smith explained that in the so-called “horse race” question, likely voters are asked who they would support if the election were today. The percentages for the candidates include those who are leaning toward supporting each candidate, even though they may not have made a final, definite decision on who they will vote for on Nov. 8. As a result, 15 percent of likely voters have not made a final decision about who they will support on Election Day, while only 5 percent of likely voters could not say who they would vote for if the election were held today. Smith said he believes that on Election Day, the race between Clinton and Trump in New Hampshire will be closer than the poll indicated. “There is a spiral of silence effect,” Smith said, referring to a theory put forward by German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Newmann in 1974. It holds that people tend to remain silent when they feel that their views are in opposition to the majority view on a subject. “If you perceive that your candidate is socially unacceptable, you are less likely to talk about him or her, or put out a lawn sign or attach a bumper sticker to your car. You are also less likely to tell a pollster that you support that candidate,” Smith said. The results of WMUR Granite State Polls on the U.S. Senate, gubernatorial and two U.S. House races will be released later this week, but Smith said the effect of the lopsided presidential matchup resonates down the ticket and is “hurting everybody on the ticket” on the Republican side. “If the lack of enthusiasm for Donald Trump translates into a lack of desire to vote at all, that’s going to hurt all of the Republicans,” Smith said.