The Democratic presidential primary race has already proven plenty contentious, but a lot of attention also remains on the general election that will come soon after. Now, a newly released Hill/Harris X poll has some bad news for President Donald Trump and the rest of his side who’d be hoping for re-election. In a hypothetical general election match-up between him and an option presented simply as any Democratic candidate, he’s losing by a margin of seven percent. A full 46 percent of the registered voters surveyed in the poll said they’d opt for the Democratic nominee — whoever it is — while just 39 percent went with Trump.
Those figures track roughly with Trump’s overall approval rating. At present, FiveThirtyEight notes that an average of just 42.8 percent of Americans currently say that they approve of the job that Trump is doing in office, while a full 53 percent of Americans currently say that they actively disapprove of the job that Trump is doing — which isn’t exactly a winning coalition, by any means.
There is one important variable in the new general election match-up poll — a full 15 percent of respondents overall said that they were undecided. Among independents, that figure shoots up even further; more than a third of unaffiliated respondents said they were undecided. Yet, it’s clear that Trump is the one starting out with more ground to cover for a chance at re-election — among independents, for instance, Democrats led Trump by a margin of eight percent. Seven percent of the respondents among both Democrats and Republicans said that they anticipated voting against their party’s nominee — and they, of course, could be among the ones to help decide the eventual general election.
Another group that Trump is faring poorly with is women. A solid majority — 52 percent — of women respondents in the new poll said they’d opt for the Democratic nominee. (Only 41 percent of men said the same.)
Democratic pollster Molly Murphy noted:
‘Trump continues to struggle with women voters, and if he is not able to close that gap he is going to have a very difficult time in his reelection.’
Women are among the many groups that Trump has belittled during his time in the public spotlight — not to mention the many allegations against him of sexual harassment and assault. His administration has also rolled back women’s rights through means like ending federal support for Planned Parenthood, which provides a whole lot of important health services besides abortions.
Trump, for his part, has consistently buried his head in the metaphorical sand. He has insisted, for instance, that the impeachment proceedings that House Democrats led last year would sink their electoral chances — although Democratic voters are so energized that turnout in the presidential primary process so far has shot past 2016 levels.
Trump tweeted at one point:
‘Democrats committed to impeaching Trump for no reason.” Will backfire into big 2020 Victory for Republicans!’
“Democrats committed to impeaching Trump for no reason.” Will backfire into big 2020 Victory for Republicans! @IngrahamAngle
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2019
And in another post, quoting someone, he added, referencing Democrats:
‘They have done irreparable harm to our Republic. The American people are going to speak up and speak out about this. I think this guarantees Trump’s re-election in 2020.’
Where’s the evidence for these claims? It’s not there.
….trampled on our Constitution, and they have done irreparable harm to our Republic. The American people are going to speak up and speak out about this. I think this guarantees Trump’s re-election in 2020.” @Jason_Meister
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2019
