“Confused.” “Frail.” “Dementia.”
Those were some of the words used to describe Biden“Thursday’s lackluster performance and performance at the presidential debate by Democratic-leaning voters, who were less likely to say they would vote for him after it was over, is reflected in a new survey and virtual focus group.
The president’s cognitive and physical fitness impressed respondents more than anything else, according to the survey, which was led by former Bill Clinton pollster Stan Greenberg and asked 374 registered voters to complete a questionnaire immediately before and after the debate to compare shifts in sentiment, in addition to dial tests during the debate. But Biden’s repeated stumbles did not immediately sway those voters toward rival Donald Trump — which participants remembered as calmer, although they acknowledged that Trump gave more evasive and misleading answers to questions.
While 65 percent of voters surveyed said they would vote for Biden in a head-to-head with Trump before the debate, only 54 percent said he would win the debate afterward, the poll found. The remaining 46 percent picked Trump as the winner after observing both candidates’ performances.
The study differs from typical opinion polls in that it was designed to measure the opinions of a Democratic-leaning sample of voters and observed the same group of participants at two different points in time – before and after the debate – and also asked several open-ended questions.
Overall, Biden lost six points to Trump among voters surveyed after the debate, with 62 percent saying they would still vote for the president, while 38 percent suggested they would vote for the former president in a two-way vote, the report showed. survey. Biden’s post-debate approval rating fell by two points, fueled by a decline among Hispanic and third-party voters, while Trump gained his approval rating by just one point — with third-party voters driving the biggest increase in approval.
“President Biden was seriously harmed by the debate, but Donald Trump did not benefit in any way, except the vote,” a summary of the findings said, referring to the measurement of which candidates voters would choose on a ballot before and after the debate.
The findings come after Biden delivered raucous, often incomplete responses to Trump’s attacks on Thursday, setting off a wave of Democratic concern that he may not be qualified to win — or even seek — re-election. Biden and his party have sought to assuage those doubts by citing Trump’s frequent lies, pointing to a spirited rally in North Carolina on Friday and insisting that Biden will not step aside.
The survey’s findings focused on the stark differences between the number of voters who would vote for Biden before the debate and the number of voters who said Biden won the debate afterward. This suggests that many of his supporters are well aware of his poor performance, but still support his candidacy.
Black voters, “double haters” of both candidates and third-party voters, were measured as having the largest gap in their likelihood to vote for Biden before the debate and their assessment of his debate performance afterward. While 64 percent of third-party respondents said they would vote for Biden before the debate, only 38 percent said he won the debate after watching it.
Regardless of whether they said Biden did well or not in the debate, participants did not appear to signal a broad shift in underlying sentiments toward Trump that would significantly change the race. White, unmarried women grew more fearful of a second Trump term during the debate, while black voters grew somewhat weary of Biden’s continuation, and Hispanic voters were essentially unchanged in their sentiment toward Trump’s return or Biden’s continuation as president until 2029.
The issues that were important to voters during the election also remained relatively unchanged from before and after the debate. Although Biden lost some ground to Trump on how he would protect democracy, half of voters before and after the debate saw him as the better choice on the economy and the cost of living — issues that have dogged the president since he left office. re-election campaign began.
The poll from PSG Consulting, Democracy Corps and Greenberg Research was conducted on June 27 and surveyed 374 registered voters across the country. The qualitative survey analyzed several individually recruited groups, including dual haters, third-party voters, black and Hispanic voters, young white voters, and single female white voters.
