Poll: Hillary Clinton has slight lead over Donald Trump nationally

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has a slight advantage over Donald Trump in a general election match-up, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

A Quinnipiac University survey found that nationally, Clinton leads 45 to 41 percent over the presumptive Republican nominee, split along stark gender lines. Men support Trump 51 to 35 percent, while women go for Clinton 54 to 30 percent.

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Democratic and Republican voters voice strong support for their party's candidates, with Democrats saying they would vote for Clinton 90-6 percent and Republicans backing Trump 86-4 percent. Independent voters, however, are split, with 40 percent favoring Trump and 37 percent for the former secretary of state.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders fares better against Trump in a general election, with a nine-point advantage: 48 to 39 percent. But among Democrats, Clinton is the favored candidate. Sanders only garners 39 percent of support, compared to his primary rival's 53 percent.

Both Clinton and Trump receive strong unfavorability ratings. Among 57 percent of voters, Clinton rates as "very unfavorable" or "strongly unfavorable"; the same is true among 59 percent of voters fro Trump.

But on a lighter note: as the summer months go on, voters would rather invite Trump to a backyard barbecue over Clinton, 47 to 39 percent. During a personal crisis, however, voters would rather turn to Clinton in a personal crisis, 47 to 41 percent.

If independent candidates are taken into consideration in November, the poll showed that the Clinton would receive 40 percent of the vote and Trump would have 38 percent -- within the survey's margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor and now the Libertarian party's presidential nominee, would get five percent support. The Green Party's Jill Stein would receive three percent.

Quinnipiac University polled 1,561 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points from May 24-30. The survey polled 678 Democrats with a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

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