Race Tightens But Map Shows Clinton Way Ahead

First Read: “Sure, the 2016 presidential race is closer than it was a month ago, when Donald Trump was battling with the Khan family, Paul Ryan, and Barack Obama. Still, Hillary Clinton holds a significant battleground lead over Trump, according to the newest NBC News battleground map. Clinton stands at 272 electoral votes, Trump is at 174, and 92 are in the tossup column.”

“That’s a slightly smaller lead than Clinton’s 288-174 advantage last month. The two changes here: We moved North Carolina from Lean Dem to tossup (Clinton is still leading in the Tar Heel State per most polls, but not as much as the nine-point edge in our August NBC/WSJ/Marist poll). And we also moved the one electoral vote from Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District from Lean Dem to tossup. So Clinton isn’t ahead by as much as she was last month, but she still exceeds the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. And perhaps more notably, Trump hasn’t added anything to his column here.”