First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day’s most important political stories and why they matter.
Whose poll numbers are worse right now — Clinton’s or Trump’s?
As Politico put it earlier this week, May was a rough polling month for Hillary Clinton. Her significant advantage over Donald Trump in national polls vanished, and key battleground state surveys showed dead heats, all producing plenty of Democratic handwringing and negative headlines for Clinton. So that’s certainly one way to look at the last month of poll numbers. But here’s another way: Clinton is still ahead (the national RealClear average has her lead at +1.5) — at a time when the GOP vote has consolidated around Trump, but when the Democratic primary race is still going on. And as we’ve pointed out, Sanders voters are dragging down Clinton’s poll numbers. So given that situation, shouldn’t Trump be ahead right now? And if he’s not ahead now, when is that going to ever happen? Of course, this can all change. And it’s possible that Trump overtakes Clinton later this summer. But for that to occur, Clinton will have to get weaker than she is now, not stronger.
Chuck Todd
Chuck Todd is NBC News' chief political analyst and the former moderator of "Meet The Press."
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