(CN) – Several polls released Tuesday tell a similar story: Former Vice President Joe Biden continues to lead the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, regardless of his performance on the campaign trail or debate stage.
The latest Quinnipiac Poll showed the American public overwhelmingly thought Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., won last week’s debates, with 28% deeming her the victor and only 15% siding with Biden.
Nevertheless, respondents said Biden is the most electable candidate in the crowded field of candidates, with 49% giving him the crown in an election where the majority of Democratic voters have insisted their vote belongs to the candidate with the best chance for unseating President Donald Trump rather than the one they most agree with.
In the same poll, only 9% of participants said Warren is the most electable. She came in third behind Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who garnered 12% of the vote.
Nevertheless, the news is not all rosy for the front-runner.
In Tuesday’s POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, 14% of respondents said they absolutely will not vote for Biden, the highest of any candidate. By comparison, Warren clocks in at 7%, fringe candidate Marianne Williamson earned 8% and Sanders came in with 9%.
Biden supporters need look no further than a recent poll in New Hampshire to see ominous signs. Biden enjoyed a comfortable lead in the Granite State as recently as July, but that lead has narrowed: The latest Suffolk University-Boston Globe poll found Biden polling at 21% in New Hampshire, with Sanders nipping at his heels at 17% and Warren making up ground at 14%.
Among New Hampshire voters, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., garnered 8% and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg received 6%.
While there is a tendency within the punditry to ascribe Biden’s durable popularity to the white working class vote in the Midwest and the reality of the electoral map, Biden continues to poll well with minority communities.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday showed candidates like Harris and former Texas congressman Beto O-Rourke have lost support among minority voters. But Biden, along with Sanders, gained the support of such voters over the last month.
O’Rourke received another piece of bracing news from a poll Tuesday, as a poll conducted by Emerson College for The Dallas Morning News showed the former congressman trailing Biden by about 9 points in his own state.
However, O’Rourke’s run for U.S. Senate may have picked up steam, as the same poll showed favorability ratings for incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, are down.
Only 37% of respondents approved of Cornyn’s job performance, while 31% disapproved.
Many Democratic insiders hope O’Rourke ditches a presidential race that increasingly looks like an uphill battle and throws his hat in the ring against Cornyn for Senate.
Voters tend to agree, as 46% of voters said he should drop the bid for president and run for the Senate, including 51% of voters registered as Democrat.
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