According to a new poll of voters in the battleground state, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden is leading incumbent Republican President Donald Trump in Florida by a full six percent. Although his leading margin was small, at just 1.2 percent, Trump won Florida in 2016, so for the state to shift to Biden would represent yet another major threat to the coalition that Trump would need for re-election. In the new Florida Atlantic University poll, a full 53 percent of voters said they backed Biden, while just 47 percent said they supported Trump.
In a poll that the same university released in March, Trump led Biden by two percent. In those results, 51 percent of Florida voters said they supported Trump, while just 49 percent said they supported Biden. In Florida in 2016, about 2.9 percent of the overall vote went to the two most prominent third party candidates, so third party voting could impact the election results in the state depending on which major party candidate loses more supporters to the third party challengers.
In the time since the March poll, the scope of Trump’s failure to respond effectively to the Coronavirus crisis has really set in. Tens of thousands of Americans have died while Trump has largely opted to either delusionally congratulate himself for a supposed job well done or launch off into ridiculous rants about conspiracy theories like “Obamagate,” a term that he has yet to actually explain in terms of actual alleged crimes. In the latest Florida Atlantic University polling, 45 percent of respondents said that they approved of the president’s Coronavirus response, and the same amount said that they disapproved. Only 43 percent of respondents in the latest polling said that they approved of Trump’s job performance overall, none of which exactly sounds like a winning coalition for the president.
Biden’s eventual choice for his running mate could impact voters’ perceptions of the race. In the Florida polling, a full 22 percent of respondents backed Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as a VP pick, while 16 percent supported Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and 15 percent supported former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams. Biden has committed to choosing a woman as his running mate.
Biden has been trying to bring attention to Trump’s failures in an attempt to boost his own candidacy. He tweeted on Friday, for instance:
‘To all of our front line workers who are working day in and day out to keep our nation afloat during this crisis, thank you. We have the power to create the future we want. A future where: – We end our gun violence epidemic – We lead the world in combating climate change – Everyone has access to the health care they need – Our government works for all — not just the wealthy and well-connected’
To all of our front line workers who are working day in and day out to keep our nation afloat during this crisis, thank you.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 15, 2020
We have the power to create the future we want. A future where:
– We end our gun violence epidemic
– We lead the world in combating climate change
– Everyone has access to the health care they need
– Our government works for all — not just the wealthy and well-connected— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 15, 2020
Biden regularly leads in both national polls and swing state polls pitting him against Trump. It’s worth noting that he has won many states before as a running mate to Barack Obama, so voters have already proven their preference for Biden in a general election.
