2020 Presidential Polls: Joe Biden Maintains Control Over Democratic Field, 10-Point Lead Over Bernie Sanders
With just a few weeks until voting starts, former Vice President Joe Biden is maintaining a big lead over the field in the Democratic primary.
A poll released Wednesday from Economist/YouGov showed that Biden maintained a 10-point lead over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, garnering a total of 29 percent support to 19 percent from Sanders. Senator Elizabeth Warren is close behind in third place with 18 percent, while the next closest is South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 8 percent.
As The Hill noted, the poll shows that Biden has been able to maintain his status as Democratic frontrunner after a debate in December and plenty of campaigning in early states from the candidates.
“The poll numbers have remained virtually unchanged in the past three polls, with candidates moving at most 1 percentage point up or down,” the report stated. “The lack of change shows that the December debate did not sway numbers much.”
Biden has been able to maintain his place atop the Democratic field despite being one of the biggest targets for his opponents, especially for the progressive Sanders and Warren. The former vice president has also been a major target for attacks for President Donald Trump, who has now been impeached for his alleged actions in pressuring Ukraine to launch an investigation into Biden, based on debunked conspiracy theories regarding his activities in the country.
Biden has also played to his strengths in campaigning, including his connection to the still very popular Obama administration. This week, he floated the idea of nominating Barack Obama to the Supreme Court. As WTHR noted, Biden was asked at a campaign event whether he would think about submitting the former president’s name for Supreme Court vacancies that may come up if he wins the election. Biden said he would — as long as Obama was on board with the idea.
The first voting in the 2020 Democratic primary is now a little more than a month away. The first contest is the Iowa Caucus on February 3, followed by the New Hampshire Primary on February 11. That is followed by a caucus in Nevada on February 22 and a primary in South Carolina on February 29. Biden is expected to do well through the first four contests, with particular strength in South Carolina, though in past years, there have been some major shakeups in the race following Iowa and New Hampshire.
Biden’s supporters point to his strength with key Democratic primary demographics, including African American voters, and his ability to attract moderate voters who may have went for Trump in 2016.
