According to a new CNN poll released on Wednesday, former Vice President Joe Biden is ahead of President Donald Trump nationwide, but Trump has an advantage in key battleground states.
Biden is polling at 51 percent nationwide, five points ahead of Trump. In battleground states, the president is ahead of the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee by seven points. The following 15 states were defined as battlegrounds: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Maine, New Mexico, Arizona, New Hampshire, Virginia, Colorado, and Michigan.
Both men appear to enjoy strong support from members of their respective parties — 95 percent of Republicans back Trump, and 95 percent of Democrats support Biden. Fifty percent of independent voters support Trump, while 46 percent prefer Biden.
Trump is stronger among men, 50 percent of whom support him, while 46 percent back Biden. Trump also has a healthy advantage among white voters, polling 12 percentage points ahead of the Democrat. The candidates are tied when it comes to voters under age 45, but Biden is ahead of Trump among voters over age 45 and among those older than 65.
“Though other recent polling has shown some signs of concern for Biden among younger voters and strength among older ones, few have pegged the race as this close among younger voters,” CNN notes.
“The results suggest that younger voters in the battleground states are tilted in favor of Trump, a stark change from the last CNN poll in which battleground voters were analyzed in March, even as other demographic groups shifted to a smaller degree.”
The coronavirus pandemic and the federal government’s handling of the outbreak are all but certain to have tremendous implications for the 2020 presidential election . In this respect, Biden seems to have an advantage. Fifty-one percent of voters say they would trust Biden to handle the pandemic, while 45 percent pick Trump.
In some areas, Trump has an advantage. When it comes to handling the economy 54 percent of voters say Trump is a better choice than Biden, while 42 percent believe the former vice president would handle the economy better than Trump. The respondents were also asked to assess which of the candidates has the “stamina and sharpness” to be president. In this regard, Trump — who has mocked Biden’s mental acuity — has a three-point advantage.
Conversely, voters consider Biden to be more honest and trustworthy than Trump and believe he would be able to manage the government more effectively and respond competently during a crisis. The former vice president is also seen as caring more “about people like you.”
