Joe Biden isn’t out of the woods yet. The attempt on Donald Trump’s life last Saturday seems to have largely tamped down the calls from big party figures for befuddled old Joe to step away from the race, but a recent AP-NORC survey shows that almost two-thirds of Democrat voters want the president to bow out of the race.
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As President Biden continues to face the fallout from his debate performance, 7 in 10 adults, including 65% of Democrats, say he should withdraw and allow his party to select a different nominee. There are growing misgivings about Biden’s mental capability to be an effective president, and few adults think he can win in November.
The survey – which was conducted July 11-15, mostly completed before the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump – finds that more people view Biden as honest than Trump. But Trump is more likely to be seen as capable of winning in November and better able to handle a crisis.
Overall, 57% of adults say Trump should withdraw from the race and allow his party to name a replacement. But Trump is maintaining support from his party, with 73% of Republicans saying he should stay in the race.
Biden is facing more resistance from his party, with only 35% of Democrats saying he should stay in the race.
Most of the survey, as noted, was taken before Saturday’s assassination attempt. While calls from party leaders for President Biden to step away dropped off to some extent after that event, these calls resurfaced Wednesday with Rep. Adam Schiff’s call for Biden to drop out. And, there are reports that Sen. Chuck Schumer went to Delaware to pow-wow with Biden and asked him to step aside.
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There are a couple of interesting data points in this survey.
First: Former President Trump retains strong support among Republicans, with 73 percent saying he should remain in the race. Again, remember that this is a pre-assassination attempt survey; expect that number to increase in the next poll.
Second: Independents break by a small but significant portion towards favoring Donald Trump’s withdrawing from the race, with 51 percent of independents saying Trump should withdraw from the race, with 44 percent saying he should stay in. This gives the Trump campaign something to focus on; they would do well to look at why the former President’s support among independents isn’t stronger.
Third: 25 percent of Republicans think President Biden should stay in the race. It’s mildly surprising that this number isn’t approaching 100 percent, given that Joe Biden is probably the weakest candidate in a weak Democrat field.
Fourth and finally: Majorities of white and Hispanic Democrats think Joe Biden should withdraw, while the number for black Democrats is pretty evenly split.
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This is just one survey, of course. One set of data, and also mostly taken before the attempt on former President Trump’s life, which is going to be a game-changer. But this survey is another straw on Joe Biden’s back; as his numbers get worse, as the calls for him to step down increase, which makes him angry and irrational, which makes his numbers worse still. It’s a vicious cycle and one that will yield, almost certainly now, to a Democrat loss in the 2024 POTUS election.