LAST-MINUTE, PRE-DEBATE POLL – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Last-minute polling confirms a Trump surge in recent days, leading to a tied race.  From The Hill: 

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton are in a tight race nationally, according to a new Bloomberg Politics poll.

In a head-to-head matchup, both candidates are favored by 46 percent of likely voters, according to the poll.

The race has tightened since August, when Clinton had a 6-point lead over Trump.

When third-party candidates are included, Trump has a 2-point lead over the Democratic nominee, 43 to 41 percent.

Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson has the support of 8 percent of likely voters and Green Party nominee Jill Stein is backed by 4 percent.

Pollsters found that Clinton leads Trump by 13 points among female likely voters, 52 to 39 percent. The Democratic nominee also has a lead over her Republican rival among likely voters under 35, 50 to 40 percent.

The poll also shows that 49 percent of voters think Clinton will perform better in Monday night's first presidential debate and 39 percent think Trump will do better.

More than 70 percent of respondents think Clinton's truthfulness is "just fair" or "poor." More than 60 percent say the same of Trump.

The poll was conducted from Sept. 21 to 24 among 1,002 likely voters. The margin of error is 3.1 percent.

COMMENT:  Isn't it hilarious how the writer of the story managed to insert areas where Clinton leads, although the poll shows a tied race?  Isn't Trump leading anywhere?  How did we get the tie?  Are the batteries in the calculator dead?  Good deal on batteries at Staples this week.  Go now.

September 26,  2016