TRUMP INCHES AHEAD – AT 8:08 A.M. ET:   Donald Trump is making progress in the battleground states, but the race is still very, very close.   From Fox: 

Donald Trump narrowly leads Hillary Clinton in the battleground states of Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio.

That’s according to Fox News statewide likely voter polls conducted Sunday through Tuesday evenings.

Trump is helped by strong support from working-class white voters, while Clinton is hurt by a lackluster performance among younger voters and women.

In each state, Trump’s advantage is within the margin of sampling error. Here’s how the numbers breakdown state-by-state:

COMMENT:   On the other hand, Clinton has made a slight gain in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls.  She still leads in that survey and, narrowly, in electoral votes.

The bad news for Clinton is that Trump's rise has been fairly steady.  She hasn't had any important recent victories.  The good news for Clinton is that Trump has gotten a bit off-message in the last week, and his momentum is threatened. 

The first debate in Monday night.  The polls before then will be ancient history, and forgotten, by this time next week.  The home stretch begins October 8th, a month before the election.  October 8th is two weeks from Saturday.

September 22,  2016