WASHINGTON — Once upon a time in American politics, Labor Day signified the beginning of the general election campaign. Today’s election cycles never really end — the notion of the “permanent campaign” is quite real — but one thing remains the same: The voters who determine the outcomes of close elections will decide, starting now, whom they want to see in the White House.
Will 2016 turn out to be a close election? That question is yet to be answered, but during the first week of September, the head-to-head national polls did tighten. As the race stands now, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 2.7 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics polling average. Clinton has led Trump in the average every day since the conventions ended.
