This story was originally published on nationaljournal.com on August 9, 2016 The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll puts Hillary Clinton ahead of Donald Trump by 8 points in the three-way trial heat, while both the Fox News and NBC News/Wall Street Journal polls have the former secretary of State ahead by 9 points. CNN pegs her lead at 8 points, and CBS at 5 points. So there isn’t much question who is ahead, only how real and durable that lead is, how much of it is bounce or froth—and how strongly the effects will be felt down-ballot. It’s clear that Democrats had the more successful convention and that Clinton has had a strong run and Trump a very bad run since, but it’s unrealistic to think that she is going to sail through the Nov. 8 election only having weeks as good as the last few have been. It would be very hard and pretty unlikely for Clinton to sustain a lead of this kind the rest of the way. At the same time, it is hard to look closely
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