New PPP Poll of Virginia: Clinton Up 6-8 Points Over Trump

Not bad numbers overall in Virginia, according to Public Policy Polling (PPP), although down from the double-digit leads Clinton held a few weeks ago in polls by NBC/Marist, CBS News, etc.  Here are the highlights:

• “Hillary Clinton is still in a pretty good position in the state. In the full field she leads with 45% to 39% for Donald Trump, with Gary Johnson at 6%, Jill Stein at 2%, and Evan McMullin at 1%. In a head to head contest just against Trump, she leads 50/42.”
• “Clinton is winning 93% of the Democratic vote, to Trump’s 81% of the Republican vote. Third party candidates are combining for 9% of the Republican vote in Virginia, but just 1% of the Democratic vote.”
• “Another thing Clinton has going for her is that 54% of Virginians would rather have another 4 years of Barack Obama as President, to only 41% who would pick Trump.”
• “Generally when a state level politician takes the national stage, we find their standing goes down on the home front. That’s not the case for Tim Kaine- his 50/37 approval rating with Virginians is up a good bit from 43/35 when we last polled the state in June. “
• This is frightening: “Trump supporters continue to be convinced that if Hillary Clinton wins the election it will only be because the results were rigged for her. 60% think a Clinton win would be due to voter fraud, to only 29% who think it would come because she got more voters.”
• “65% of voters think Trump needs to release his tax returns, to only 25% who don’t think it’s necessary for him to.”
• “Voters aren’t familiar with any of their possible choices for Governor next year. Ed Gillespie leads the way with 37% name recognition, followed by Ralph Northam at 26%, Rob Wittman at 25%, Corey Stewart at 22%, and Frank Wagner at 18%. Northam and Gillespie tie in a hypothetical match up at 37%”
• Virginians strongly (58%-30%) support restoring ex-felons’ right to vote and also strongly support (63%-25%) expanding Medicaid. 
• By an enormous 89%-8% margin, Virginians support “background checks on all gun purchases.” Also, “59% of voters in the state would support a ban on assault weapons to 33% opposed to that.”
• Also overwhelming: “77% of voters in the state support increasing the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour.”
• President Obama’s approval rating in the state is 51%-45%.
• Only 34% of Virginians have a favorable impression of Donald Trump, while 60% have an unfavorable position (that’s a net approval rating of -26 points). For Hillary Clinton it’s 44%-51% (a net approval rating of -7 points).

As I almost always do, I find myself in the majority on all these questions, as I suspect most readers of this blog do as well, with Trump supporters in the minority – often the small minority. What’s amazing is that on issue after issue, Virginians – and Americans more broadly – tend to be progressive, yet Republicans still manage to win elections. As Donald Trump likes to say – SAD!