The battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is predetermined to be brutal as the U.S. is in a race against time to replace Barack Obama at the oval office.
The two candidates suffered from unpopularity both within their own parties and among the Americans at large.
Some big figures from the Republican refused to endorse Trump, while YouGov polling has shown that about half of Bernie Sanders' supporters won't back Clinton.
Recent CBS News and New York Times polling has shown that popularity of both candidates is limited by the people's lack of trust on either of them.
Just 35 percent of people considered Trump as honest and trustworthy, compared to 33 percent of Clinton's. At least 62 percent of Americans said they don't share Trump's values, while the number is similarly high for Clinton at 57 percent.
More people think Clinton has the right kind of personality and temperament to be a great president, while the nominee of the Republican has the advantage when people support the candidate who they think could bring "real change" in the United States.
Yet, Clinton holds a big demographic dominance over Trump. A Washington Post poll indicated that 57 percent of whites and men support the Republican, while 69 percent of non-whites and 52 percent women favor Clinton.
Swing states to watch
States that regularly switch between Republican and Democrat between elections are also very important.
States like Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia have the power to swing the election. So far, neither Trump nor Clinton has a notable lead in these crucial states.
Until election day on 8 November, anything is possible. Polling much earlier from the election is unlikely to be reflective of the final result. Lots of things can change between now and election day.
The New York Times has also worked out that, at the convention stage of all previous elections, a simple polling average across has differed from the final result by about 9 % points. So, with the polls being so close, anything could still happen.
