US Election: Clinton’s lead widens as voters doubt Trump’s temperament

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 9 points — 50 percent to 41 percent — in the latest NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll.

The numbers were virtually unchanged since last week’s poll. Generally low favorability and negative attitudes among voters plague both candidates, however, as they make appeals to voters in key swing states in the weeks ahead.

A majority of voters continue to hold unfavorable impressions of both current nominees; Clinton’s negative feelings were held by slightly less voters (59 percent) than Trump (64 percent). These results are according to the latest from the NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll conducted online from August 8 through August 14, 2016 among registered voters.

Clinton continues her lead over the field in a four-way general election match-up with 43 percent against Trump (37 percent), Libertarian Gary Johnson (11 percent) and Green party candidate Jill Stein (4 percent).

Though Clinton’s lead over Trump remains significant following the convention, a closer look at voter attitudes reveals that many still harbor negative feelings about both candidates. When asked to select all the qualities that describe each candidate including options for honesty, values and temperament, a majority of voters chose “none of the above” to describe both candidates.

Clinton’s high point, however, is her perceived leadership strengths and ability to serve the country’s interests well. Her campaign has consistently emphasized her leadership qualities and worked to draw a stark contrast between her and Trump on issues of national security. Her campaign’s efforts may be working well as more than four in 10 voters said she has the personality and temperament to serve effectively as president. This includes 39 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaners and 23 percent of Independents who don’t lean toward any party.

Trump scores much lower. Just 17 percent of all voters say that Trump has the personality and temperament to serve effectively as president. Even among Republican and Republican-leaners, only 19 percent said Trump has the personality to serve effectively.

These results come after 50 Republican national security advisers issued a letter stating that none of them would vote for the Republican candidate because he lacks the character and experience to be president.

Unsurprisingly, Trump does better than Clinton in the honesty category, but she still does not score particularly high marks. Just 16 percent of voters say that Trump is honest and trustworthy, but only 11 percent believe the same about Clinton. Even among Democrats and Democratic-leaners of her own party, just 12 percent say she is honest and trustworthy, whereas 19 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners say Trump is honest and trustworthy.

These numbers indicate that the post-convention bounce for Clinton is more likely a shift in the race. Her lead has been nearly unchanged for the past three weeks. Still, voters don’t feel particularly positive about their general election choices.