A new poll has some astonishing news for those who keep seeing President Trump losing in polls in head-to-head competition with the leading Democratic Party presidential candidates Democrats: All three leading Democratic candidates — former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — have lower favorability ratings than President Trump.
The in-depth, comprehensive poll from The Economist and YouGov, taken between September 1-3, showed 43% of respondents with a favorable response to Trump; 29% had a “very favorable” reaction and an additional 14% had a “somewhat favorable” response.
Among the three leading Democrats, only 40% had a favorable reaction to Biden, with a paltry 17% of respondents having a “very favorable” reaction and an additional 23% with a “somewhat favorable” reaction.
Warren got a total of 39% of respondents giving her a favorable reaction, 20% of whom had a “very favorable: reaction and 19% with a “somewhat favorable” reaction. Sanders got the most favorable reaction of the three top candidates as he barely edged out Biden with 41% of respondents having a favorable reaction, but he still ranked 2% behind Trump. 18% of voters gave Sanders a “very favorable” rating while 23% gave him a “somewhat favorable” response.
Another piece of evidence with good news for Trump: asked whether their candidate would defeat or lose to Trump in 2020, Biden was 10% underwater, with 32% of voters agreeing he would probably beat Trump but 42% saying he would probably lose. Warren fared even worse, at 16% underwater; 28% thought she would probably win and 44% thought she would probably lose, while Sanders brought up the rear at 17% underwater, as 29% of voters thought he would probably win but 46% thought he would probably lose. (Just a note: Senator Kamala Harris lagged far behind the top three candidates at a whopping 24% underwater.)
Voters 45 and older clearly preferred Trump to the Democrats; 46% of those aged 45-64 gave him a favorable rating while 54% of those over 65 felt the same way. Biden’s numbers were 39% and 42%; Sanders’ were 34% and 33%, and Warren’s were 35% and 33%.
Younger voters skewed harder to the Left; Sanders got 53% of voters aged 18-29 and 45% of those aged 30-44. Warren’s numbers were 48% and 44%; Biden’s were 41% and 37%, while Trump’s were 35% and 36%.
The fact that older voters skewed toward Trump is significant considering that the poll found that they are paying far more attention to the election than younger voters; 70% of voters over 65 said they were paying some attention or a lot of attention to the election; 65% of voters aged 45-64 felt the same way, while only 53% of voters younger than 45 said they were paying some or a lot of attention to the election.
Another interesting factoid: Despite the fact that all of their leading candidates trailed Trump and there are a plethora of other candidates behind them doing even worse, when asked if they were satisfied with the Democratic candidates running for president, a staggering 85% of Democrats said yes. In addition, 63% of Democrats said they were more interested in a candidate who could defeat Trump than one who agreed with them on most issues.