Most minds made up
Many Americans have already decided, voted
Democratic nominee Joe Biden has taken a double-digit lead over President Donald Trump in several national polls and widened his margins in battleground states.
The problem for the Trump campaign is that a majority of voters – 95% or higher in most polls – say they have decided who they’re backing and can’t be persuaded.
Also, more than 26 million people have voted early, and Democrats have a major advantage in mail-in voting.
Trump has not led in the Real Clear Politics’ average of national polls since August.
Trying to claw back, Trump has been calling for the backing of seniors and suburban women.
WASHINGTON – Trying to claw back into the lead in the race for president as time is running out, Donald Trump is so aware of the voters he needs – the ones he’s struggling to win back – that he’s calling them out by name.
“To my favorite people in the world,” the president said in a video last week. “The seniors.”
Days later, during a campaign stop Tuesday in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Trump turned to the other demographic that could stand in the way of his reelection. “Do me a favor, suburban women, would you please like me? I saved your damn neighborhood, OK?”
As Trump’s support erodes among voters ages 65 and older, women and suburban voters, Democratic nominee Joe Biden has taken a double-digit lead in several national polls and widened margins in battleground states.
The former vice president’s position has brought back memories from 2016 when Democrat Hillary Clinton led in polls three weeks from Election Day, before Trump’s victory. Trump faces a problem unlike four years ago: Most voters – 95% or higher in most polls – say they have already decided who they’re backing and can’t be persuaded.
Adding to the troubles for the president: More than 26 million people have voted early, and Democrats have a major advantage in mail-in voting.
“I think it’s vitally important that the current president move out of the White House and on to his business practices,” said Bob Lowe, 72, a retired superintendent from Le Center, Minnesota, who voted for Biden.
Trump has not led in the Real Clear Politics’ average of national polls since Biden became the Democratic nominee. Biden’s lowest mark has been 48.7%. Trump’s highest has been 43.3%.
An NPR/Marist University Poll released Thursday found Biden ahead of Trump 54%-43% among likely voters. Only 2% say they are unsure whom they will vote for, and 1% say they back a third-party candidate.
And only 5% of voters say they could be persuaded to change their opinions.
“It’s an incredibly low number,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “President Trump’s strategy from the time he took office was to keep the base hopping. Because of his personality, it ends up a referendum on him when he really needs to make it a choice, and he hasn’t been able to do that.”
Miringoff said, “There’s very few people who are looking over the choices right now. That makes it very uphill for the president. It’s a very steep incline him for him. People are comparing it to 2016, but I think it’s a very false comparison.”
In the Real Clear Politics average of national polls, Biden held a 51.3%42.3% lead over Trump among likely voters as of Saturday.
Trump was at roughly that same position in 2016, 42.2%, but Clinton’s polling average was lower than Biden’s, at 47.7%.