Biden Opens Up 11-Point Lead Over Trump, Texas And Ohio Within One Point
Presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee Joe Biden has opened up a double-digit lead over President Donald Trump in a recent Monmouth University poll, tripling the size of his lead over the current president since March.
Politico reports that the “Monmouth University poll shows Biden with an 11-point nationwide lead over the president, 52 percent to Trump’s 41 percent among registered voters. That gap is wider than it was in May when Biden had the support of 50 percent of respondents to Trump’s 41 percent. It’s significantly larger than the gap just before Biden locked up the Democratic nomination in March when polls showed a much closer, 3-point race.”
The poll shows a significant boost for Biden in the last week, likely the result of anti-racism protests, which erupted after the death of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers, all of whom have now been charged.
Where just weeks ago, amid record unemployment and ongoing anti-coronavirus lockdown measures that put nearly 40% of Americans out of work, voters’ primary concern was the economy — a subject that greatly benefits Trump. Now, the ongoing racial tensions and related violence have voters suggesting “race relations” is their top concern in November, a shift that largely benefits Joe Biden.
National polling, of course, means little in a presidential election, given that campaign strategy relies on a state-by-state approach. But President Trump looks to be in trouble in that arena, as well. According to several polls, also taken this week, Trump is losing ground to Biden in several key battleground states — and is even slipping into the margin of error in Texas, which was previously a reliable state for Republican presidential contenders.
A Fox News poll, via Cleveland.com, shows Trump neck-and-neck with Biden, 45% to 43% in Ohio, even though Trump won the Rust Belt state handily in 2016, by 8 points. And the poll seems to show support for Trump sinking, not support for Joe Biden increasing.
“Public opinion was lukewarm on Trump in the Fox News poll. Half of the respondents said they approved of the job Trump was doing as president, while 48% said they did not,” Cleveland.com reported Thursday. “However, a more troubling statistic for the president is the strength of support behind those numbers. Only 29% said they ‘strongly’ approve of Trump’s job performance while 40% said they ‘strongly’ disapproved.”
A Quinnipiac poll showed a “virtual tie” for Trump and Biden in Texas this week according to the Dallas Morning News — a sure sign that the Trump re-election campaign may be headed for trouble.
“Trump edges Biden 44-43 in the new Quinnipiac University Poll, with voters giving Trump a strong endorsement when asked who would handle the economy better — 54-40 — but a small edge to Biden on who could better handle the coronavirus pandemic that put more than 40 million Americans out of work,” the outlet said, adding that, “Texas hasn’t sided with a Democrat in a presidential race since 1976 when Jimmy Carter won the White House.”
The concern is clearly getting to the White House. Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that Trump’s core team has “summoned top political advisers including his re-election campaign manager, Brad Parscale, for a White House meeting as his political standing erodes in key battleground states.”
Much of this polling, of course, is still too early to indicate November results. The campaign is just now beginning in earnest, as lockdown measures recede and both candidates can return to the trail.
