Presidential vote: Trump edges ahead of Clinton in race for White House

Survey shows a seven point decline for ex-secretary of state

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has edged ahead of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by a point for the first time since May, an ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll out Tuesday has found.

The poll also registered a seven point decline for Clinton in the share of likely voters who are strongly enthusiastic about her, a possible reflection of the renewed controversy over her use of a private server while secretary of state, pollster Gary Langer said.



Trump’s 46-45 per cent lead in the four-way race for the White House, while well within the margin of error, is the first time he has pulled ahead of Clinton in the survey since May.

The new poll was taken from October 27-30, a period that includes FBI director James Comey’s October 28 announcement that his agents had found a new trove of email that may be pertinent to an earlier probe into Clinton’s handling of classified information.

The results flip 46-45 in the Democrat’s favor when combining the last seven days, Langer said.

“Either way the results are exceedingly close,” he said.

Avoiding tax

Trump used tactics to avoid paying taxes that were so ‘legally dubious’ that his own lawyers advised him the government would deem them improper, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

Citing newly obtained documents, the Times said the Republican presidential candidate was scrambling to stave off financial ruin in the 1990s and worked to avoid reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxable income.



The report said Congress later outlawed one of the tactics Trump used that potentially allowed him to avoid paying tens of millions of dollars in personal income taxes. The report came just one week before the presidential election.

The newspaper had tax experts review the new documents, including correspondence with Trump’s tax lawyers, but said it is impossible to tell the extent of the benefits or taxes avoided since the real estate mogul refuses to release his tax returns.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2016.