Joe Biden Holds On To Frontrunner Spot, But The Real Winner Of Democratic Debates Was Donald Trump, Poll Shows
After seeing a sharp decline in his poll numbers after a shaky performance in the June 27 Democratic debate, former Vice President Joe Biden is now showing strong signs of recovering and even solidifying his frontrunner status in the 2020 race for the party’s presidential nomination. His numbers in the average of all polls compiled by Real Clear Politics has been turning back upward by 1.3 points since July 5.
Biden’s signs of new life are the result of two new polls which put his support at back at 30 percent or above, where it had been for weeks in most polls leading up to the debate, according to data compiled by FiveThirtyEight.com. But since the debate, Biden had seen his support dip into the 20-percent range while California Senator Kamala Harris, whose debate attack on Biden over racial issues clearly drew blood, saw her numbers jump to where she now ranks second in the RCP average, overtaking both Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Sanders appears to be the loser coming out of the debate, as The Inquisitr reported, with his numbers in most polls simply holding steady or dropping. The RCP average shows that Sanders lost almost five points between June 28 and July 5 but has since gained back slightly less than one percentage point in the polling average.
But according to an Emerson College poll released on Tuesday, the real winner of the Democratic debate is one candidate who never took the stage — Donald Trump. The new poll shows that Trump has gained ground on all of his potential Democratic rivals since the debate, and now holds leads over Harris and Warren, as well as South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg — all of whom led Trump in the most recent, pre-debate Emerson poll. Trump’s lead over each was a slim two points, 51-49.
Biden continued to lead Trump in the head-to-head Emerson polling by six points, 53-47, while Sanders also held a lead over Trump, 51-49.
“It looks like Trump was a winner from the Democratic debate, as his head-to-heads tightened by about 5 points against all the leading Democratic candidates,” noted Emerson Polling Director Spencer Kimball.
But in the Democratic race, the Emerson poll showed Biden’s lead growing even as his support dipped from 34 percent to 30 percent. But with Sanders in free-fall, falling 12 points — to 15 percent — from the June Emerson poll, Biden was able to more than double his lead, from seven points to 15.
A Morning Consult poll also released on Tuesday put Biden at 31 percent, 12 points ahead of second-place Sanders at 19. Harris placed third with 14 percent, one point ahead of Warren. But those four were the only Democrats of 24 in the field polling in double figures.
