Former President Donald J. Trump still leads President Biden in battleground states that will likely decide the presidency, according to Wall Street Journal polls in seven key states.
Trump had a narrow lead in six of them: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Mr. Biden was leading in Wisconsin.
The results mirror other recent polls, including a series of New York Times/Siena College polls in six battleground states last October. Over the past five months, Mr. Trump has led nearly every poll in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina — states that would give Mr. Trump more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
While the results may not have been that different, they still dampened Democrats’ hopes that Mr. Biden would gain in the polls after his energetic State of the Union address and the effective end of the primary season.
These hopes were not unfounded. On paper, there should be many prerequisites for a Biden comeback. Consumer confidence is rising. A rematch between Biden and Trump is now an inevitable reality. Concerns about the president’s age appeared to ease as the state of the Union and the start of the general election campaign began.
Despite tens of millions of dollars in early advertising by Democrats and a vigorous campaign plan by Mr. Biden in key states, Wall Street Journal polls still found that voters had a deeply negative impression of his job performance, mental and physical stamina and effectiveness economic management. Mr. Trump had an advantage over Mr. Biden on almost every issue, and usually a big one.
Abortion and democracy were the only exceptions.
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2024-04-03 19:51:57
www.nytimes.com
