Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Almost half of likely U.S. voters believe the debate moderator will help Hillary Clinton tonight. Can you blame them?
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that a plurality (46%) of Likely U.S. Voters believes most moderators will try to help Clinton in the upcoming debates. Only six percent (6%) think they will try to help Trump instead. Just 32% say most of the moderators will try to be unbiased, while 15% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of voters who support Trump think the moderators will try to help Clinton. Most Clinton supporters (56%) say the moderators will try to be unbiased, but 20% say they’ll try to help their candidate. Twelve percent (12%) of Clinton voters think the moderators will try to help Trump, compared to just two percent (2%) of Trump supporters who feel that way.
Four years ago before the first debate between President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, 71% of Republicans and 56% of unaffiliated voters said debate moderators are biased, but Democrats by a 47% to 30% margin felt they were not biased. In 2008 before the first debate, 22% felt the first moderator, veteran PBS newsman Jim Lehrer, would try to help Obama, while six percent (6%) expected him to help GOP nominee John McCain. Forty-three percent (43%) though Lehrer would play a neutral role.
Heading into the debate, polling averages have Donald Trump trailing Hillary Clinton by a slim 2.3%. It’s a dead heat. If Donald Trump decisively wins the debate, it could all be over for Hillary Clinton.
Based on new #polls, FiveThirtyEight predicts Trump will win. Hillary had a 92% chance of winning in Aug. https://t.co/jI7jkRV4F6 #momentum
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) September 26, 2016
.@realDonaldTrump leads 43 – 41 in new @bpolitics national #poll + 43% of Trump's supporters are "very enthusiastic" to Hillary's 34%.
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) September 26, 2016