"I can't understand how this election is supposed to be so close. I don't know anyone who supports that other candidate."
If you have expressed that confusion this election season, you are not alone. A new poll from the Pew Research Center shows that nearly half of Hillary Clinton's supporters (47 percent) and almost a third of those backing Donald Trump (31 percent) say they have no close friends who favor the opposing candidate.
In an election that many consider to be increasingly contentious and polarized, the monthlong survey of more than 4,600 adults shows that birds of a political feather flock together. Roughly 44 percent of those supporting Mr. Trump say they have "a lot of close friends who back Trump." Another 38 percent say they have some friends who support him.
"Similarly," the researchers said, "most Clinton supporters say they have a lot (41 percent) or some close friends (40 percent)" who also support her.
Only 25 percent of Trump's supporters say they have friends who intend to vote for Clinton. And Clinton's backers appear to be even more discriminating, with only 18 percent saying they have friends who support Trump.
The data comes out as a number of new polls peg Clinton widening her lead in some key states, including Pennsylvania.
A Franklin & Marshall College Poll of Pennsylvania shows Clinton leading her Republican opponent by 11 percentage points, 49 percent to 38 percent, among the state's likely voters.
The expansion from earlier polls that indicated a tighter race reflects a stronger-than-usual post-convention bounce for the Democratic candidate.
"Nearly two in three (62 percent) of those who watched the Democratic convention reported being more likely to vote for Secretary Clinton, while only two in five (40 percent) of those who watched the Republican convention said they were more likely to vote for Mr. Trump," the release from the Lancaster County college poll said.
The poll also showed that in Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race, Democrat Katie McGinty has made it a tight race with Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, inching to a one-point lead _ 39 percent to 38 percent _ among likely voters. Only 24 percent of registered voters said they thought Mr. Toomey "has done a good enough job to deserve re-election."
National polls in the past two days show Clinton's support gaining strength, with observers attributing the momentum to the message of her convention and at the cost of Mr. Trump's recent missteps.
A McClatchy-Marist survey released Thursday evening has Clinton 15 percentage points _ 48 percent to 33 percent _ ahead of Trump among registered voters. The same poll last month had her lead at only 3 percentage points.
A Fox News poll, conducted in more than 1,000 interviews after the conventions, put Clinton up by 10 points, 49 percent to 39 percent. A month ago, she was up by 6 percentage points.
Fox News said Clinton had "gained ground among men, women, whites, Democrats, young voters, and seniors."
Other national polls showing Clinton ahead included Rasmussen Reports (a 4 percent lead); CBS (6 percent); CNN (9 percent); Reuters/Ipsos (4 percent); Economist/YouGov (5 percent); NBC News/SM (8 percent); and the LA Times/USC (1 percent).
Some state polls released Thursday showed Clinton ahead by 6 percentage points in Florida, 9 in Michigan, 17 in New Hampshire, and 1 in Nevada.
Trump holds polling leads in North Carolina (4 percentage points) and Oklahoma (24).
As with all polls, a number of variables come into play that affect the results and the margin for error, particularly as some polls include Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Most polls so far, however, show those candidates impacting Trump and Clinton fairly equally.
