Daily Times

DURHAM: Hillary Clinton has soared to a 12-point lead over Donald Trump in the race for the White House, a new poll showed Sunday, as the Democratic presidential frontrunner stepped up efforts to see her party make gains in Congress.

The 68-year-old Clinton — in swing state North Carolina on Sunday after two stops in another key battleground, Pennsylvania — definitely has the momentum with 16 days to go before Election Day.

The former secretary of state is reaching out to undecided Republicans and independents and has said she will focus on boosting Democratic candidates in House and Senate races, with control of Congress up for grabs.

“We’re talking about what’s at stake in the election, drawing contrast, but we’re giving people something to vote for  not just against,” Clinton said late Saturday.

Her message of inclusion comes in sharp contrast to the biting attacks of her 70-year-old Republican rival, who has seen dismal poll numbers since a string of women came forward to accuse him of past sexual misconduct.

On Saturday, he threatened during a policy speech to sue the “liars” who have made the claims, and has repeatedly stirred controversy by refusing to say he will accept the result of the November 8 election, calling the process “rigged.”

In the home stretch, both candidates are making their final arguments to voters who will choose a successor to President Barack Obama.

Clinton leads the Manhattan real estate mogul by 50 percent to 38 percent in a four-way contest with two minor party candidates, according to a national ABC News poll.

That was up from Clinton’s four percentage point edge in an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted 10 days ago.

Trump held a small 47-43 percent lead among white Americans, a group that Republican Mitt Romney won by 20 points in the 2012 election.

Republican candidates must have strong support from white voters if they want to win, with non-white voters overwhelmingly favoring Democratic candidates.

Clinton leads 55-35 percent among women, and has doubled her margin to 32 points among college-educated white women — a group strongly critical of Trump’s response to allegations of inappropriate behavior.

“We’re not taking anything for granted at all,” campaign manager Robby Mook told Fox News Sunday.

“Secretary Clinton at the beginning of this campaign said she wanted to help all candidates up and down the ballot. So we’re running a coordinated campaign, working hard with gubernatorial, Senate and House candidates,” he added.

“But we’re not — you know, this is not over yet.”

Team Clinton is gunning for a landslide win, even holding out hope of taking back control of at least one of the two houses of Congress from the Republicans. Beyond Clinton’s two appearances in Charlotte and Raleigh, she had powerful surrogates on the campaign trail Sunday — her husband, former president Bill, in Florida, and Obama in Nevada.