Donald Trump Seizes Hillary Clinton’s Absence to Press His Case, New Polls (Video)

Donald J. Trump hurled himself into a new effort to reshape the presidential race on Monday, scrambling to allay voters’ concerns about his temperament and put Hillary Clinton on the defensive over her critical comments about many of Mr. Trump’s supporters.

Though Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee, has largely withheld comment about Mrs. Clinton’s health, showing uncharacteristic restraint after her campaign announced she had pneumonia, he took Mrs. Clinton’s unexpected absence from public view as an opportunity to press his case with ferocity.

Among Mr. Trump’s advisers, there is a sense of urgency. With eight weeks left in the race — and just two before his first debate with Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic nominee — Mr. Trump may never again have such a window to make his argument to voters more or less uninterrupted.

Without a forceful message and iron discipline heading into the debates, Mr. Trump could struggle mightily to overcome the deeply rooted opposition to his candidacy. An ABC News-Washington Post poll published over the weekend showed Mrs. Clinton with a five-percentage-point edge over Mr. Trump nationally, with six in 10 voters describing Mr. Trump as unqualified and biased against women and minorities.

[vc_btn title=”More on Trump” style=”outline” color=”primary” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F09%2F13%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fdonald-trump-campaign.html%3F_r%3D0|title:More%20on%20Trump||rel:nofollow”][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” message_box_color=”turquoise”]By ALEXANDER BURNS and MAGGIE HABERMAN, New York Times, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.com Sept. 13, 2016  [/vc_message]

Latest national polls, followed by Florida polls from RealClearPolitics, 

National Polling Data