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Tuesday, April 23, 2024 | Back issues
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Poll Finds Biden Leads, but All Top Democrats Would Beat Trump

Former Vice President Joe Biden maintains a solid lead over other 2020 presidential hopefuls – though all top Democratic candidates would beat President Donald Trump in a matchup – a poll found Wednesday.

(CN) – Former Vice President Joe Biden maintains a solid lead over other 2020 presidential hopefuls – though all top Democratic candidates would beat President Donald Trump in a matchup – a poll found Wednesday.

The Quinnipiac poll found 54% of registered voters nationwide say they would vote for Biden if the election was held today, while only 38% say they would vote for Trump.

The survey of 1,422 registered voters found U.S Senators Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg would also beat Trump in a one-on-one matchup if the election took place Wednesday.

Sanders – a Vermont Independent seeking the Democratic nomination – would beat Trump 53% to 39% while Warren would clinch victory with 52% to Trump’s 40%.

Harris (51% to 40%) and Buttigieg (49% to 40%) would win a similar margins, the poll found.

Wednesday is the last day to qualify for the September debate stage, and no candidates qualified because of the Quinnipiac poll.

Quinnipiac University polling analyst Mary Snow said in a statement Wednesday that Trump is stuck at 40% after losing support from key demographics nationwide, including white women.

"In hypothetical matchups between President Trump and the top five Democratic presidential candidates, one key number is 40," said Snow. "It's the ceiling of support for Trump, no matter the candidate. It hovers close to his job approval rating, which has stayed in a tight range since being elected."

The poll, conducted August 21-26, found 56% of voters disapprove of Trump’s performance in the White House – a two-point jump from July figures – while 49% disapprove of the president’s economic policy moves.

Trump’s sinking approval rating is weighed down by the survey's findings that, for the first time since being elected, more voters (37%) say that the national economy is getting worse than voters who say the economy is improving (31%).

In June, 23% of voters said the economy was tanking while 39% said they believed it was on the rise.

While Wednesday’s poll found 61% of voters said the nation’s economy was in good or excellent condition, 41% of voters said Trump’s decisions on trade and other economic policies have hurt the nation’s economy.

Snow said the double-digit increase since June in the number of people who think the economy is sliding is due to Trump’s economic policies, particularly the ongoing trade war with China.

“As trade tensions with China dominate the headlines, confidence in the economy is slipping," said Snow. "And roughly 4 in 10 voters blame the president's policies, saying they are hurting the economy, the highest level since Trump took office."

The Quinnipiac poll has a 3.1% margin of error.

With 14 months to go before the 2020 presidential election, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll found Wednesday that 41% of voters nationwide would support the Democratic nominee for president over Trump, who has 39% support.

Biden leads in the poll with 32% support while Warren moved up to second place with 14% over Sanders’ 12%.

But election dread is setting in among American voters, too, the poll found, with nearly 4 in 10 voters saying they would lose confidence in U.S elections if their preferred candidate doesn’t win.

The phone survey of 1,000 registered voters found 10% would support a third-party candidate while 10% are undecided. The poll has a margin of error of 3%.

A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll also Wednesday found 65% of Democratic voters are likely to support a 2020 candidate who backs a “Medicare for All” plan over a revamp of the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature health care legislation.

Warren and Sanders have actively promoted a Medicare for All plan, while Biden has proposed revamping sections of Obamacare.

The survey of 1,987 registered voters found – regardless of party affiliation – 53% would back a candidate who supports Medicare for All.

Categories / Politics

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