President Joe Biden is leading his main Republican rival in a new poll that has a lot of people talking. Despite lower-than-average approval ratings, Mr. Biden is ahead of former President Donald Trump in a WPA Intelligence survey released Wednesday.
Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by 7 in new poll
If the poll is correct, Biden is currently beating Trump by a more significant margin than in 2020. The margin of victory was 4.5 percent in the popular vote.
However, in the crucial battleground states, the race was much tighter. The close results led to the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol. Mr. Trump refused to concede and encouraged his supporters to protest.
The bombastic billionaire is still saying that the election was rigged and has refused to say if he will accept the results in 2024. Interestingly, his two-year campaign on the issue has convinced most Republicans to side with him.
The presumptive Democratic nominee has 47 percent versus 40 for his potential Republican opponent. This is good news for Biden after ABC News/The Washington Post poll from early May showed him trailing Trump by 7.
Many Biden critics used the controversial survey to say that he should not run for re-election because of his age. While the current president would win the race if the election were held today, he still has a lot of work to do.
Biden has below-average approval rating
Amanda Iovino, who is a Principal at WPA Intelligence, has a few ideas about the data. She says: “Despite Joe Biden’s unpopularity, our poll found that he would win re-election in a rematch against Donald Trump by a bigger margin than the one he had in 2020.”
She continues: “It’s clear from the data that Trump’s standing with Independents has weakened considerably since the 2020 election and that he has failed to attract new voters. This should surprise no one, as it is entirely consistent with last year’s election results among Trump-backed candidates in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and other states.”
The 80-year-old leader of the free world is not on solid ground because only 46 percent of respondents approve of the job that he is doing. At the moment, 56 percent of voters disapprove of his performance.
Moreover, only 22% of registered voters say the country is on the right track. Those numbers are grim and expose Biden’s vulnerabilities.
However, Biden is fully aware of the situation and often tells voters: “Don’t compare me to the Almighty; compare me to the alternative.”
He is not facing a serious primary challenge, but anti-vaccination activist Robert F. Kennedy and self-help guru Marianne Williamson are running.
Despite a solid record, Biden has had a hard time convincing voters that he is doing a good job. Inflation, gas prices, and a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan have turned Americans against him.
However, voters seem to be ambivalent and not ready to give power to Republicans, especially after the Supreme Court decision on abortion.
Trump dominates Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary
Trump trails Biden in most polls. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis does barely better, but he is losing the primary against Trump by wide margins.
Reuters has Trump leading DeSantis by 28 points (49 versus 21). The governor plans to announce his candidacy later this month.
Trump has been relentless in his attacks against his former protégé. DeSantis has been trying to find ways not to go after Trump directly. He fears that if he gets too frontal, MAGA voters will reject him down the road.
The other candidates have been non-factors because of Trump’s presence in the race. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is set to enter the primary soon, sits at 5% in the poll.
Mr. Pence plans to run as a Reagan conservative and put less emphasis on the populism that Trump has brought to the GOP.
Who has the edge for 2024?
According to experts, incumbency puts Biden slightly ahead for now. However, with 18 months to go, predictions at this point are not reliable.
The president could face a recession, and Trump remains an unpredictable figure. Voters tell pollsters that they want new faces, but the 2020 rivals feel like they have unfinished business to handle.
If anyone can play a spoiler, it would be DeSantis. However, he would need to prove to GOP voters that he can effectively challenge the man who helped take his career to the next level with an endorsement in 2018.
