Latest Poll Shows Joe Biden Has Regained His Big Lead
In the wake of the first two rounds of the 2020 Democratic presidential debates, it seemed like Joe Biden’s once-massive lead was evaporating.
Now, the latest poll appears to show the former vice president may be building his big lead back up again.
Biden has the support of 29 percent of Democratic or Democratic-leaning registered voters nationwide, according to a poll conducted between Aug. 15 and 18 by CNN and SSRS.
This represents a seven-point jump in support for Biden since the same companies conducted a similar poll between June 28 and 30, just days after the first round of Democratic debates.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders came in second in the most recent poll, and his support has grown slightly from 14 percent to 15 percent.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has seen her support drop from 15 percent to 14 percent, while South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is at 5 percent and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke is garnering 3 percent support.
Aside from Biden’s jump, the most surprising aspect of the poll may be the significant dip in support for California Sen. Kamala Harris.
In June, Harris came in second in the CNN poll with 17 percent support.
This time around, just 5 percent of respondents said they’d be most likely to support her.
For Biden, this poll is undeniably a good thing.
Of course, it’s worth noting that at this stage in the nomination process, polling can change quickly.
The results of a tracking poll conducted by The Economist/YouGov released last week showed Biden leading Warren by just a single percentage point. Twenty-one percent of respondents indicated they’d vote for Biden, while 20 percent said they supported Warren.
Biden has led in the national polls ever since announcing his candidacy, and while some polling shows that lead is evaporating somewhat, it’s clear he still has the advantage.
A pair of polls conducted earlier this month by Politico/Morning Consult and Fox News showed Biden with an 11-point lead over his closest competitors.
According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Biden is pacing the field by 13.2 percentage points.
Biden’s considerable support from Democratic voters comes despite his seemingly endless supply of head-scratching gaffes.
Earlier this month, the former vice president was caught on camera barking at a female questioner who had asked how many genders there are before grabbing her by the arm to snarl a followup question at her.
He also suggested he was vice president during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, even though he left office more than a year before the tragedy occurred.
In this context, a recent New York Times report claiming former President Barack Obama expressed misgivings about Biden running for president makes sense.
Of course, there’s still plenty of time left in the 2020 Democratic nomination process, so while it seems like Biden has the insurmountable lead right now, that could all change very quickly.
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