By Helen Coster and Alexandra Ulmer
(Reuters) – Gina Gannon, a retiree in the state of Georgia, has voted Republican Donald Trump in 2016 before dropping him as a Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 – and is now looking to next week’s debate to help her decide which one to support this year.
Gannon, 65, turned to Biden, she said, because she felt Trump’s presidency was too chaotic. But she is now leaning back toward Trump, dissatisfied with illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border and inflation under the Biden administration.
However, Biden could convince her if he comes up with a strong proposal to secure the border and shows a steady hand despite his age, she said.
Trump, 78, is “always a wild card,” Gannon said. But for the 81-year-old Biden, “there is certainly concern about his age and how he will be able to handle himself.”
About 20% of voters say they have not chosen a candidate in this year’s presidential race, are leaning toward third-party options or may not vote at all in the Nov. 5 election, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Reuters interviewed 15 such voters ahead of the June 27 debate in Atlanta to find out what they hope to see when Biden and Trump face off and how the candidates – now leading in national polls with less than five months to go election day are essentially tied in the national polls – can make their money. support.
The group of undecided voters includes seven men and eight women from a mix of Democratic-leaning, Republican-leaning states and battleground states. They vary by age, party affiliation and race.
Of the fifteen voters, nine were former Biden voters who soured on him in whole or in part, and one now leaned toward Trump. Three out of fifteen voters were disappointed with Trump, but did not consider Biden as an alternative.
Mental fitness, especially Biden’s, is a key issue for these undecided voters, who will watch the first debate to see how well the two oldest candidates to ever run for the US presidency can think.
Biden’s stewardship of the economy, and especially his handling of inflation, is also a hot topic.
Consumer price increases have slowed significantly from a peak in June 2022, but voters still regularly complain about supermarket sticker shock.
Rich Liebig, 35, a Pennsylvania resident, voted for Biden in 2016 and 2020 but is now undecided, mainly because he thinks Biden is too old. Liebig is also put off by Trump’s legal troubles and what he called the “stuff” surrounding the Republican former president.
Liebig, who was recently fired from his job in marketing, said he will watch the debate for signs from Biden on the economy.
“What is his agenda, if he gets a second term, to tackle inflation?” Liebig said, adding that he also wants to see strength from the president. “Biden must show that he can take on Trump again.”
FOCUS ON IMMIGRATION
Several voters who supported Biden in 2020 said he should discuss immigration during the debate. Biden took office in 2021 promising to reverse many of Trump’s restrictive border policies, but he has struggled with record numbers of migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border under his watch.
Biden has moved to the right on the issue, imposing a broad asylum ban earlier this month to reduce illegal crossings. Trump, who made a tough stance on immigration the centerpiece of his 2017-2021 administration, has promised major action if re-elected.
The border “has to be under control,” said Ashley Altum, a mental health case manager in South Carolina who voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, and believes both Biden and Trump are too old to run.
Altum said she would never consider voting for Trump but might have supported another Republican candidate. Now she may abstain entirely from voting in the presidential elections.
Trump’s felony conviction in May is a factor for voters like ShaRon Johnson Bynum, a former Biden supporter who is unhappy with the Democratic president but believes the conviction disqualifies Trump.
Bynum, a 59-year-old telecommunications program manager in North Carolina, voted for Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020 because she felt Trump was ill-suited for the role. As a registered independent, she said she has voted for Republican presidential candidates in the past.
This year, as she decides whether to vote for Biden or a potential third-party candidate, Bynum said she will watch the debate to see if Biden is “mentally and physically capable of playing the role.”
“My biggest concern right now is these trials and the outcome of these trials for the Republican nominee,” Bynum said, referring to Trump’s three remaining criminal cases. “And the age and capacity of the Democratic candidate.”
Tom Reich, a 39-year-old Republican from Maryland, did not vote for president in either 2016 or 2020 and is open to voting this year for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has not qualified for the debate .
Reich said he will see if any of the major party candidates show signs of mental decline when they face off: “Anything either of them says is way out in left field, doesn’t make sense and isn’t that kind of thing. I would like to see something from someone running the country,” he said.
“Anything that’s scary in one direction would make me move in the other,” Reich said. “I think that’s more likely than either candidate will move me toward them.”
(Reporting by Helen Coster and Alexandra Ulmer; additional reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alistair Bell)
