WASHINGTON _ The eve of the GOP convention has brought a surfeit of new polls, and although they differ slightly on the standing of the two major candidates, they concur that voters don't like their choices.
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll, for example, finds 58 percent of voters are dissatisfied with the choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Among those surveyed, 64 percent had an unfavorable view of Trump, while 54 percent felt unfavorably toward Clinton.
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey offered a similar verdict: Trump was viewed favorably by 27 percent of those surveyed and unfavorably by 60 percent. That net negative rating of minus 33 points is the worst in the history of the poll.
But Clinton's image is only somewhat better: 34 percent positive, 56 percent negative.
Despite the unpopularity of the two major-party presumptive nominees, third parties aren't garnering a huge lot of support. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian nominee, and Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, drew 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively, in the ABC/Washington Post survey when their names were offered to voters. They got 11 percent and 6 percent, respectively, in the NBC/Wall Street Journal survey.
The two drew roughly equally from both Clinton and Trump at this point, the polls found.
Rather than flocking to a third choice, many voters are being driven by negative feelings about the candidate they don't like, more than positive feelings about their own candidate. That's particularly true for Trump, who leads a party still badly divided between his supporters and detractors.
Among registered voters who said they backed Trump, fewer than 4 in 10 in the ABC/Washington Post poll said they did so mainly because they supported him. The majority, 57 percent, said they mostly opposed Clinton.
On the other side, the picture is only slightly more optimistic: 44 percent who mainly supported Clinton, 54 percent who mostly opposed Trump.
One political figure Americans do like: President Barack Obama. His job approval continues to stay above 50 percent, at some of the highest levels of his presidency. That has helped buoy Clinton, even as concerns over her handling of classified information in her email while secretary of State have pulled her downward.
As for who is winning, the new surveys all show a very close race: The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has Clinton ahead 46 percent-41 percent. The Washington Post/ABC poll has her leading 47 percent-43 percent. Both leads are within the surveys' margins of error.
The University of Southern California Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Daybreak poll, which tracks voter preferences daily, now has the two effectively tied, Trump 42 percent, Clinton 41 percent. The small lead that Trump had in the poll last week appears to have dwindled.
Similar verdicts come from new polls of swing states, which show close contests in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Virginia.
