That damn poll HAS gotten EVERYONE’S attention…
Below is a linked piece from Aaron Blake over at the Washiungton Post that reminds us the polling results give an sample of a group of people at a particular time and place and that the thought of pushing Joe Biden (Or Trump even) aside might NOT be such a good idea in the REALITY of things…..
The New York Times/Siena College poll shows Donald Trump leading Biden in five of six swing states tested. If those numbers hold up and both men remain in the race, the indicted former president would in all likelihood return to the White House.
But some have spotlighted a potential saving grace for Democrats. In addition to showing Trump ahead by an average of four percentage points, the poll asked voters about a race without Biden. An unnamed “Democratic candidate” shifts the race by 12 points on the margins, turning a four-point Democratic deficit against Trump into an eight-point lead, 48 percent to 40 percent…
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But as we’ve long written, such generic ballots can be misleading. They invite people to imagine their ideal alternative in such a race, rather than the potentially very flawed, actual alternatives. Would California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) or Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) actually lead Trump by that margin? Probably not. Even if they did right now, heightened scrutiny would surely take a toll….
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Jonathan Last: “There is no magic bullet here, no one who’s a slam dunk to be better than Biden. And because none of them is a known quantity, it’s entirely possible that on the big stage they’d turn out to be worse than Biden.”
“At least with Biden, there’s a track record. With the others, you’re asking voters to take a chance on a fresh face even though the voters are clearly saying that while they don’t like Trump, they’re comfortable with him.”