Elections

Gallup: Americans Now More Likely To Recall Hearing About Clinton Than Trump

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
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Donald Trump turned the tables on Hillary Clinton according to a new Gallup report on how likely Americans are to report having read, seen or heard something about one of the candidates.


From July until October 24, Gallup reported Americans were more likely to report “having read, seen or heard something about Donald Trump who received 83 percent, than about Hillary Clinton, who is at 78 percent.”

However, Gallup’s newest poll on the issue shows those numbers nearly reversed with Clinton at 81 percent and Trump at 77 percent. National Review’s Jonah Goldberg cited the poll as “bad news” for Clinton.

“Prior to September, the pattern of attention to the two candidates was fairly clear: a rise during and just after the party convention period, with a decline thereafter. By mid-September, however, Americans’ recall of having read, seen or heard about the two candidates began to exhibit a more seesaw pattern,” Gallup explained.

“There was a sharp rise after Sept. 11 based mainly on the aftermath of Clinton’s near collapse at a memorial ceremony and her announcement thereafter that she had pneumonia. Attention fell after that point, only to rise again just after the initial presidential debate held on Sept. 26 to its highest point to date. Attention then fell once again before rising after the Oct. 9 debate. Recall since the second debate has leveled off, without the same type of uptick after the Oct. 19 debate as occurred after the first two.”

The polling organization says that the averages confirm that Americans actually do pay more attention to the political campaigns following Labor Day and the “results also suggest that the debates generate more attention than the two party conventions in the summer.”

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