Biden holds lead in rematch with Trump
A new Franklin & Marshall College Poll shows the current president with an advantage over his predecessor
In what’s shaping up to be a tight race this November, a new poll shows that President Joe Biden holds a significant lead in a headto-head matchup with former President Donald Trump in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania.
But, the poll shows, that lead shrinks when thirdparty candidates are put into the mix.
In the latest edition of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll released today, Biden holds a 10-point lead over Trump among registered voters asked to pick between just the two majorparty candidates.
The poll shows that, if asked to pick today between the two, 48% would opt for Biden and 38% would select Trump.
In the last poll, released in February, Biden held a lead of 43% to 42% over Trump.
But when the field is expanded to include thirdparty candidates who are expected to be on the ballot, the gap between Biden and Trump tightens.
After adding independent candidate Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. and Green Party candidate Jill Stein to the question, 42% of registered voters picked Biden and 40% selected Trump. The 2-point gap is well within the poll’s margin of error.
Kennedy comes in third in the poll at 9% support, followed by “someone else” at 4% and those who don’t know who they would vote for at 4%. Stein finished last at 3%.
Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at the Lancaster college, said the finding shows support for Biden declines among registered Democrats as more of them opt for someone else.
The poll also looks at what voters like about each of the candidates.
More respondents say they believe Biden has better judgment, is more trustworthy and is closer to their views on issues than Trump. But more voters say they believe Trump is better able to handle the economy and serve as commander in chief of the military.
And when it comes to the favorability ratings of Trump and Biden, both men are struggling to get voters to like them.
The poll shows 57% of voters have a negative impression of Biden and
60% have an unfavorable view of Trump. Altogether, 1 in 5 voters has an unfavorable
opinion of both candidates.
A total of 42% rated
Biden favorable, while Trump was rated favorable by 39% of registered voters.
The survey also found nearly 40% of voters say Biden and Trump are too old to serve another term. Biden is 81 and Trump is 77, which means that no matter who comes out on top the winner will have the distinction of being the oldest person ever elected to the White House.
The U.S. Senate race
A preview of the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race shows three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey winning a hypothetical matchup against Republican Dave McCormick.
The poll found Casey leads McCormick 46% to 39% in a head-to-head matchup.
About 40% of registered voters believe Casey is doing an excellent or good job as their U.S. senator — a bit lower than his ratings before his last reelection campaign in 2018 but higher than his ratings before his 2012 reelection.
McCormick is viewed more unfavorably (30%) than favorably (24%) by the state’s voters, although about half said they don’t know enough about him to express an opinion.