Joe Biden maintains lead in Reuters/ipsos opinion poll
NEW YORK: Joe Biden maintained his lead for the Democratic presidential nomination as minorities gravitated towards the former vice president and his top rival, US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, in search of the safest bets for beating President Donald Trump in 2020, according to a Reuters/ipsos poll.
The Aug.1-5 public opinion poll, released on Wednesday, showed that 22 per cent of Democrats and independents would vote for Biden, a level that is unchanged from a similar poll that ran last month. Another 18 per cent said they supported Sanders, up 2 percentage points from the July poll.
None of 23 other candidates received more than 9 per cent in the poll.
Biden and Sanders offer Democrats sharply contrasting views on how to govern.
Sanders leads the effort to expand governmentrun healthcare for all Americans while Biden offers a more moderate approach that would allow people to keep their existing healthcare plans.
Yet the choice for Democrats may have less to do with ideology and more to do with who is best suited to beat Trump in the November 2020 general election.
According to the poll, 36 per cent of Democrats say they are simply looking for someone who can win.
Only 11 per cent say the most important quality is someone with a strong healthcare plan, and 5 per cent say it is most important to pick a strong voice on the environment.
Biden and Sanders are currently viewed as the safest bets for beating Trump among all Democrats.
Both improved their standing among minorities over the past month as Trump repeatedly vilified minority lawmakers in a series of tweets and public comments that infuriated Democrats and many others.
In one exchange Trump told four minority lawmakers who have been critical of his administration to “go back” to where they came from.
From July to August, both Biden and Sanders received a stronger level of support from minorities, and minorities also shited their support away from lesser-known candidates like US Senator Kamala Harris of California and former Texas congressman Beto O’rourke.
Among racial minorities who identify as Democrats or independents, 23 per cent said they would vote for Biden and 23 per cent said they would support Sanders, which is up 2 points for each candidate from July.