No convention bounce

New poll: No convention bounce for Trump

By Louis Nelson

A fresh poll released Tuesday shows Donald Trump remaining exactly where he was pre-Cleveland Republican convention: right behind Hillary Clinton.

The Manhattan billionaire trails the former secretary of state by just a single point, 45 percent to 46 percent, according to an NBC News/Survey Monkey online poll released Tuesday morning. Those numbers are unchanged from last week’s data.

A CNN poll released yesterday showed Trump gaining a bump from the convention, leading Clinton 48 percent to 45 percent in a two-way matchup.

The good news for Trump is that his lead over Clinton grew to two points when Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Gary Johnson were included. The GOP nominee holds a 41-39 edge over Clinton in the four-way race, while Johnson earned 10 percent and Stein earned five.

The convention, intended to unify still-skeptical Republicans behind their party’s nominee, seems to have done just that. His approval rating among Republicans climbed to 79 percent in the wake of the convention, up from 70 percent two weeks ago.

While Trump’s esteem seems to have grown within the GOP as a result of the convention, Sen. Ted Cruz’s took a hit. The runner up in the Republican primary saw his favorability within his own party drop to 28 percent, while 68 percent view him unfavorably. Those numbers seem to reflect the negative reaction to Cruz’s convention speech, in which he refused to endorse Trump and instead urged Republicans to “vote your conscience.”

The NBC News/Survey Monkey poll was conducted online from July 18-24, surveying 12,931 adults nationwide aged 18 or older who say they are registered to vote. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 1.2 points.