Not long after Sen. Bernie Sanders announced he was dropping out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, right on cue a bevy of ‘mainstream’ polling firms released surveys showing the now-presumptive nominee, Joe Biden, ahead of President Donald Trump.
Never mind that the former vice president can’t get through an interview or a ‘coronavirus briefing’ without slipping up, getting key facts and phrases wrong, or simply forgetting details.
And never mind that just a few short days ago, reports noted that the president’s approval ratings were rising fast as he took control over the COVID-19 response and participated in the daily virus press briefings.
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Now, suddenly, we’re supposed to believe that the shaky Biden with the questionable mental acuity has catapulted ahead of Trump? Yes, if you buy into the Real Clear Politics average of polls, which have Biden up anywhere from 2 points (ABC News/Washington Post) to 11 points (fake news factory CNN).
Only Fox News does not have Biden in the lead, but neither does it have Trump leading; it’s a ‘tie.’
But okay. Still, if it were true that the ‘vast majority’ of voters really do think Biden would make a better president than Trump, then why has a recent survey of Democrat voters found that a majority would like to see New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo run instead of Biden?
A majority of Democrats want to nominate New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for president instead of Joe Biden, according to poll results shared exclusively with The Post.
The national poll found 56 percent of Democrats prefer Cuomo, with 44 percent wanting to stick with presumptive nominee Biden — a 12-point margin well outside the 4.8 percent margin of error for the Democratic sample.
Hispanic voters, young people, women and self-identified liberals are most likely to favor dumping the former vice president for Cuomo.
And yet, Biden is the preferred candidate over Trump in the RCP average of polls? How could that possibly be if, deep down, Democrats would rather someone else run against Trump?
Granted, the preference for a candidate is not the same thing as the actual choice for president. Still, it’s becoming quite obvious that Biden is not the — shall I say — “ideal candidate” to run against Trump. Democratic pollsters and politicos agree.
“With every major news event, Democrats realize more and more how bad of a candidate Joe Biden is, and Democrats now preferring Cuomo is just another example,” Club for Growth vice president of communications Joe Kildea told the Post.
Rasmussen Reports, one of the few polling firms that got Trump’s 2016 victory correct, also noted earlier this week that in a matchup between Biden and Cuomo it is a statistical dead heat (Biden 46 percent, Cuomo 45 percent).
And oddly, Fox News reported Friday that the president has hit a new high among voters for his handling of the COVID crisis:
Approval of President Trump’s job performance inches up to a record high in the latest Fox News Poll, as voters rally to both the White House and Congress in the fight against coronavirus.
Amid widespread concerns about the virus’s spread and personally getting infected, 49 percent approve of the job Trump is doing as president. That’s up from 48 percent two weeks ago and 47 percent in late February.
Forty-nine percent of voters disapprove, marking only the third time in Fox News polling that fewer than half rate him negatively.
Polling this far out from the general election is nearly always worthless, mind you. Events can happen that change voters’ minds. And of course, many of the same polls now weighing in on the Trump-Biden matchup were very wrong about the Trump-Hillary Clinton race.
But one thing just rings true: More Democrats believe they should have a better candidate to run against an incumbent who is starting to gain ground again.
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