Where Clinton and Trump stand with 90 days left
The 2016 presidential cycle has been, to put it politely, unique. Historically, prognosticators have looked at a handful of indicators - polling, fundraising, campaign infrastructure, voter demographics - and have made reasoned assessments about the outcome of the election.
Those assessments will still be made this year in the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, to be sure, although perhaps with less confidence than in the past due to the latter's unusual candidacy.
Now, with just 90 days before Americans head to the polls, the race turns into all out sprint to November 8th.
This is a look at where Clinton and Trump stand by the numbers as the election enters its final stretch and the volume of predictions increase exponentially.
Polling
Since the conventions every major outlet has conducted its own national polling and a common trend has emerged; Hillary Clinton has open up a significant lead heading into the fall.
The latest from CBS News shows Clinton leading Trump nationally by seven points, 46 percent to 39 percent, among registered voters. Clinton enjoyed a four-point bump after the Democrat Convention in Philadelphia. After the Republican convention in Cleveland, the race was tied as Trump's post-convention bump was neutralized by Clinton's announcement of Tim Kaine as her running mate.
Clinton's current seven point lead is noteworthy given recent polling after the conventions. In the last two elections the race coming out of the conventions was much closer -- in 2008, John McCain lead Barack Obama 46 percent to 44 percent. And in 2012, Obama held a three-point lead over Mitt Romney, 49 percent to 46 percent.
Clinton's four-point bounce this cycle is on par with what President Obama got in 2008 and 2012 when his numbers increased by three and five points after the conventions.
The seven point lead for Clinton in the CBS News poll is conservative when compared to several other major news outlets that have found Clinton with larger margins over Trump nationally -- she leads by thirteen (Monmouth), ten (Fox News), nine (CNN/ORC), and eight (NBC News/SurveyMonkey & Washington Post/ABC News) points, respectively, after the conventions.
The latest battleground state numbers also show Clinton ahead or at least even with Trump. CBS News' Battleground Tracker found an eight point lead for Clinton over Trump in Virginia and by two points in Nevada. Trump leads Clinton by just two in Arizona, a reliably red state that has voted for the Democratic candidate only once since 1976.
Quinnipiac polled likely voters in the swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania in a survey released Tuesday. With third party candidates in the race, Clinton and Trump are tied 43 percent to 43 percent in Florida, Clinton holds a small 44 percent to 42 percent lead in Ohio, and is up 9 points, 48 percent to 39 percent, over Trump in Pennsylvania, a state that the Trump campaign will be aggressively trying to turn red.
According to Gallup, the Republican party failed to create any positive momentum leaving Cleveland, and may have actually done more harm than good during the week they nominated Trump.
When asked about the likelihood to vote for Trump after what they saw or read about the Republican convention, 36 percent of people said they were more likely while 51 percent said they were less likely to support the billionaire. That -15 percent difference is the first time ever since Gallup has asked the question that a greater percentage of Americans said they were "less likely" to support the nominee coming out of their convention.
Meanwhile, 45 percent of respondents said they were more likely to vote for Clinton versus after the Democratic convention compared to 41 percent saying they were less likely. That +4 percent margin is small historically, but is in positive territory and matches numbers seen in the most recent cycles on both sides and helps explain the polling advantage that Clinton currently has.
On the question on preparedness to be president, the CBS News poll found 60 percent of registered voters said Clinton was ready. Almost the same number (58 percent) said Trump was not. Almost two-thirds (63 percent) also said Trump did not have the right temperament to be Commander-and-Chief.
While 60 percent still don't see Clinton as honest and trustworthy, positive messaging at the Democratic convention seems to have helped. In the week after the Republican convention, that number was seven points higher at 67 percent.
Fundraising
Donald Trump is perhaps the wealthiest person to win the nomination of a major political party in modern times. That simple fact has complicated the ability of anyone to objectively compare fundraising between the Republican nominee and Hillary Clinton. After proudly self-funding his campaign in the primaries, Trump has said he will continue to do so in the general election while also accepting small donations.
The numbers month-to-month are hard to compare since Trump - unlike any other candidate in history - can write a check for an indeterminable amount of money at any time over the next three months in order to help his campaign and change the calculus instantaneously.
With that in mind, based on the latest Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings for June, Clinton currently has the advantage having reported $52 million cash-on-hand compared to Trump's $41 million. Official numbers for July will be released officially later this month and although Clinton has more money in the bank as of June 30th, it is a smaller advantage compared to what Obama had over his rivals in 2008 and 2012.
Both Trump and Clinton have announced their fundraising totals for July but the FEC has not released the official reports. The Trump campaign said they raised $80 million while the Clinton campaign announced a haul of $90 million for the month. Until both campaigns file with the FEC we will not know exactly how much each has spent to this point and has on hand.
Campaign infrastructure
Clinton by all accounts has built a more robust and traditional campaign infrastructure than Trump. Recent reports show Clinton has over 700 people on her staff compared to Trump who has less than 100 nationwide. Trump, instead of building his own campaign apparatus, has continued to rely heavily on the Republican National Committee's 500-plus field staff to coordinate local and state operations.
A closer look at several of the key battleground states highlights the stark differences in staffing between the two campaigns. In Wisconsin, for example, Clinton has over 100 paid staff on the ground while the Trump campaign has just two.
Reports from Ohio, New Hampshire, Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Colorado reveal a similar picture where RNC staffers have been tasked with picking up more of the traditional campaign duties while the Trump campaign has established a very small permanent footprint directly in the battlegrounds to date.
In states like Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida and New Hampshire where there are also competitive senate races, the Clinton campaign has become fully integrated with the state party and respective senate campaigns (including the DSCC) in order to maximize resources and voter outreach. In these, and other crucial swing states, it is not apparent that the RNC, NRSC and Trump campaign have the same level of coordination in trying to maintain republican control of the Senate.
This stark contrast in infrastructure represents the fundamental difference in how Trump personally views the presidential race and how he believes he can win it. Trump appears to be doubling down on what proved successful for him in the primaries, relying on earned media exposure, social media and his own force of personality versus the traditional investment in a large national staff and organization that we have seen from Clinton.
Political landscape
Possibly the most exceptional part of the 2016 election will be just how unpopular both candidates are. Both Clinton and Trump have favorability ratings that are underwater among registered voters, with at least 50 percent saying both candidates are unfavorable right now.
Both Clinton and Trump at have serious work to do to repair their likeability before November and right now they seem to be on divergent paths after a tumultuous week for Trump.
These negative numbers for the candidates come at a time where a majority of the country is mired in pessimism. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll found 68 percent of people believe we are on the "wrong track" as a nation.
Voters see terrorism and the economy as the two biggest issues this election. While there are indicators that show economic progress - unemployment is around 5 percent and we've had a record setting streak of monthly job growth - wages continue to stagnate and overall economic growth has been lackluster when compared to past recoveries.
After a combative political primary season for both parties, the divisive rhetoric has only intensified. Given the name calling from both campaigns since the conventions, it is likely the outcome of this campaign will be determined by who is disliked the least come November.
CBS News' Drew Johnson and Jack Turman contributed to this story.