Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had an unpleasant mishap at a Labor Day campaign rally in Cleveland, in the form of a severe coughing attack. She explained that she was allergic to Republican candidate Donald Trump. The large lead Clinton enjoyed following the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia has simply evaporated. According to a new CNN poll, Trump now has a 2% lead over Clinton, with 45% of the vote compared to her 43%; Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson has 7% of the vote, while 2% goes to Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein. Although national polls of this sort are limited because of the Electoral College system, there is an evident trend. These two other candidates in the race to the White House will most likely hinder Clinton, because while Bernie Sanders reconciled with her after the primaries, Stein and Johnson have done nothing of the sort. Stein and Johnson can certainly offer Democrats the option of casting a protest vote on Nov. 8, which is a problem for Clinton and encouraging for Trump, who has re-emerged as a serious candidate. Clinton has not stopped causing problems for herself, and every story about her involves the classified email affair or her questionable finances, all in the final stretch of the race, mere touching distance from the televised debates and early voting (in some countries, Americans abroad will soon begin casting their ballots through the mail). In general, the media, the very same media that Trump loves to deride, is actually doing him a service by painting Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as a money-hungry duo. On that front, Hillary Clinton is now grappling with a new affair, after it was revealed that her husband received $17.6 million from a for-profit college company called Laureate International Universities to serve as "honorary chancellor" after she invited the school's directors to a private dinner at the State Department. According to the story, Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, insisted on reserving a seat at the table for college officials because her husband was very fond of the company's founder, businessman Doug Becker. Apparently the fondness was reciprocal. It is unclear whether Bill Clinton received the money or honorary appointment in exchange for special favors, but they were nevertheless received shortly after the dinner, to which Hillary Clinton insisted on inviting the college's directors, despite their apparent lack of connection to the event. This story comes on the heels of another affair exposed two weeks ago, claiming that more than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money -- either personally or through companies or groups -- to the Clinton Foundation. That smells odd, particularly two months before the elections. And two months pass quickly. As of today, Clinton enjoys a significant lead among female voters: 53% of women favor Clinton, while 38% favor Trump. Males, on the other hand, clearly prefer Trump: 54% of men favor Trump, while 32% favor Clinton. An interesting statistic is that single mothers, those solely responsible for their family's income, prefer Clinton (73%, compared to 36% of married women). Among men there is not much difference between those who are married and those who are not. Trump can be encouraged that he survived the storm intact. The two very difficult weeks he endured following the GOP National Convention in Cleveland are behind him. Polls show he is seen as someone who can contend with the burning issues facing Americans today, such as the economy (56% prefer Trump, 41% prefer Clinton) and terrorism (51% favor Trump, 45% favor Clinton). With regard to foreign policy management, Clinton has the upper hand, although Americans are unhappy with the foreign policies of the current administration, to which Clinton belonged. Trump also holds a considerable lead with independent voters (49%-29%). The independent voter should not be overlooked: In 2000, then-vice president and presidential candidate Al Gore lost Florida -- and thus the race -- because a handful of left-wing voters decided to support Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. In New Hampshire as well, a state with only a few electoral votes, Gore lost because of Nader. Winning either Florida or New Hampshire would have been enough to give Gore the presidency, but he lost because of the protest vote within his camp. The big question is whether the disgust felt by independents and Sanders supporters toward Clinton -- who see her has a puppet of Wall Street conglomerates -- will translate into a similar protest vote. Either way, it is important to remember that one-fifth of the electorate has still not decided for whom to vote, or is considering an independent candidate. The race therefore, will likely see several lead changes. Now that Labor Day is over and the "real race" has begun, there are no longer questions about who is fit or unfit to be president. The question now is who will survive the debate, and who will truly fight for every vote. At this point, it's a matter of mathematics.
