Polling makes clear that President Joe Biden isn’t somehow out of the running against whoever he ends up facing in the 2024 elections.
Previously, the assumption was the candidate would be Trump, but in more recent developments, a steady stream of polling has emerged at both the national and state levels showing Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis with a strong chance. DeSantis hasn’t announced a candidacy, but at least to Trump, he hasn’t done enough to conclusively shut down speculation about the possibility. (Recently, Donald officially confirmed his own primary bid.) Several high-dollar donors have also distanced themselves from Trump while showing support for DeSantis (at least in the context of Ron’s recent re-election as governor), and DeSantis has a more successful recent electoral record to campaign upon, although the actual substance of many of his key policies obviously remains destructive. DeSantis cruised to re-election by a margin of nearly 20 percent this year, while Trump-aligned candidates nationwide lost in races widely perceived as competitive.
In new polling from Redfield & Wilton Strategies, Biden led both Trump and DeSantis at the national level, although a significant portion of respondents indicated they were undecided (and presidential elections aren’t actually determined strictly on the national level). Among likely voters, Biden was up by one percent against Trump and four percent against DeSantis. A full 43 percent picked Biden, while 42 percent selected Trump, while in the Biden-DeSantis match-up, the incumbent president got 43 percent, with DeSantis at 39 percent. In the contest between Biden and Trump, nine percent indicated they were undecided, while between Biden and the Florida governor, 12 percent said they were unsure — obviously enough to swing the outcome. Although there’s no clear indication she will end up the nominee, the polling also reflected responses for a match-up between Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris, and the two were tied (still just among likely voters).
Predictably (considering recent political and economic trends), inflation was named as the widest priority in considering the presidential vote in 2024 among poll respondents. Similar trends appeared before the midterms. “Looking ahead to the 2024 Presidential Election, inflation is the top issue that Americans say will determine how they will vote in the election,” the pollster said. It’s worth noting that the partisan investigations in which Republicans have shown an interest as they prepare for a thin majority in the House won’t do anything to curb inflation! Dragging in Hunter Biden or someone connected to him for testimony: what would that do for a single American in terms of actually helping them solve their basic needs? It’s a show.
