Clinton maintains wide margin over Trump on eve of Election Day

Just one day before Election Day, a new series of polls show Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton poised to become the first woman taking the Oval Office, 16 years after her husband left it. A Fox News poll released Monday morning shows Clinton with a four-point advantage over Republican nominee Donald Trump, 48-44 percent. Two other national polls released Monday morning, from Bloomberg and CBS News, showed Clinton leading 46-43 percent and 45-41 percent, respectively.

In the modern polling era, no presidential nominee has overcome such a deficit with a day to go.

The polls also show a near-total collapse of support for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, who was polling near 10 percent two months ago and drawing many millennial voters away from Hillary Clinton. But a series of embarrassing moments where he appeared to lack basic knowledge of foreign affairs marred his candidacy, and the Fox News poll pegged his current support at a mere 3 percent. His own vice presidential nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, has done several TV appearances in which he told voters that Clinton is a “professional, responsible candidate for president of the United States.”

Trump’s campaign seems to be trying to find a state where the Republican can surprise on Election Day. Over the past several days he has visited Minnesota, New Mexico, and Michigan, his first trips there in some time.

Clinton may also have the wind at her back after FBI Director James Comey announced Sunday night that the bureau had “not changed our conclusion [of no criminal charges] that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton” and her use of a private email server while secretary of state. Comey sent shockwaves through the political system last Friday when he sent a vaguely worded letter to Congress that the FBI had found additional emails “pertinent to the investigation.”

Some Democrats worry about the millions of early votes cast while the specter of additional FBI investigations hung over the Clinton campaign and polls tightened. So far more than 41 million votes have been cast. But while Clinton’s lead shrunk over those nine days, it never collapsed. Comey’s announcement could further extend the lead shown in polls Monday morning.