Likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has a problem beyond his verbal slip-ups, the new focus on a sexual assault claim, and the lack of superstar progressive endorsements.
Much like Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016, his supporters aren’t hugely excited about voting for him.
And according to the latest Emerson College Polling’s survey, Democrats appear to be throwing in the towel. While Biden leads President Trump in a head-to-head matchup, 48%-42%, when voters overall were asked who they really think will win in November, it’s a Trump blowout, 57%-43%.
Trump’s supporters have legendary loyalty and have stuck with him through the impeachment process and in the coronavirus fight. Both should have also energized his critics to vote him out of office.
But the Emerson voting enthusiasm numbers show that isn’t the case.
Emerson found that Trump has a sizable 19-point advantage in the enthusiasm gap, 64%-45%. Some 36% of his supporters said they are “extremely excited” to vote for Trump, and 28% said they are “very excited.” For Biden, those numbers are 22% and 23%.
Biden wins the “mildly excited” category, with 29% to Trump’s 22%.
But he also wins the “not that excited” category 26%-15%.
That 19-point enthusiasm gap dwarfs the one between Clinton and Trump in 2016. A September 2016 CNN/ORC poll put the gap at 12 points.
And it’s not just Emerson. Rasmussen Reports said today that a sky-high 60% are excited about a Biden-Trump matchup, far more than the 2016 Clinton-Trump battle. It found an 18-point enthusiasm gap between Republicans, of whom 75% are excited, and Democrats, who are at 57%.
#Trump–#Biden Matchup Fires Voter Enthusiasm, Especially for Republicans… https://t.co/dqln2UTdE5 #BreakingPoll pic.twitter.com/rRQosOAZUE
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) April 29, 2020
Other polls have shown that supporters of former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders aren’t on the Biden bus. Emerson found similar results. The poll analysis said, “65% of those who voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders in the primary season said they were not that excited for Biden.”
The group Latino Decisions told us that 1 in 4 Hispanic backers of Sanders feel that Biden is an “unfavorable” candidate. “Biden’s record in politics is proving to be a major setback,” said the group’s Anais Lopez.
That was bolstered by a YouGov survey that found more than half of Sanders supporters have an unfavorable view of Biden.
The polling outfit also said that while Biden is beating Trump nationally, he’s only at 47%.
To fix that, and even push off a potential liberal third-party challenger, Emerson Polling Director Spencer Kimball said that Biden needs to call in the cavalry.
“While Trump is struggling to handle the coronavirus epidemic, it appears Biden has his own image issues with voters and may need help from former President Obama on the campaign trail to try and transfer the positive image voters have of Obama to Biden,” he said.
