ANOTHER BLOW TO HILLARY – AT 9:57 A.M. ET:  A new New York Times/CBS News poll shows the presidential race dead even.  This poll is no better than any other, but it carries the Times and CBS names, and is thus widely consulted.  From The New York Times: 

Hillary Clinton has emerged from the F.B.I. investigation into her email practices as secretary of state a wounded candidate with a large and growing majority of voters saying she cannot be trusted, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

As Mrs. Clinton prepares to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination at the convention in Philadelphia this month, she will confront an electorate in which 67 percent of voters say she is not honest and trustworthy. That number is up five percentage points from a CBS News poll conducted last month, before the F.B.I. released its findings.

Mrs. Clinton’s six-percentage-point lead over the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump, in a CBS News poll last month has evaporated. The two candidates are now tied in a general election matchup, the new poll indicates, with each receiving the support of 40 percent of voters.

Any single poll is but a snapshot, and many other polls show Mrs. Clinton with a narrow but consistent lead over Mr. Trump. The Times/CBS News survey was conducted shortly after the release of the F.B.I. report on her email practices that suggested they were imprudent but not illegal. The damage from those revelations may or may not prove lasting.

COMMENT:  True, the polls can change dramatically.  I've seen some new anti-Trump ads that are devastating and effective, using Trump's own foolish quotes, in his own voice.  The one person who can defeat Donald Trump is Donald Trump.

But the one person who can defeat Hillary Clinton is Hillary Clinton, and she is doing a good job.

Both conventions are coming up.  The GOP meets Monday.  Veep choices are coming up.  Let's check the polls in three weeks or so.

July 14,  2014