A string of seven polls this month is showing that US President Donald Trump’s rival Joe Biden widening his lead in head-to-head matchups with 16 weeks left until election day, the country’s coronavirus response is in utter disarray and seven in 10 Americans saying things are spiralling out of control.
A Real Clear Politics average of seven polls between June 27 and July 14 puts Biden nearly nine points ahead. These polls come amid a pandemic that has killed more than 137,000 people in the US while cases continue to surge in states which have ignored public health guidelines in the absence of clear messaging from the White House.
Predictive models touted by the US government point to nearly 175,000 fatalities by the end of August and Americans broadly disagree with Trump on how to deal with the catastrophe. There’s a lot of buzz about the crevices within these Trump-Biden polls, especially the enthusiasm factor. Clearly, Biden voters are not the most enthusiastic bloc but the same set of polls also shows Trump voters don’t dislike Biden as much as Biden voters dislike Trump.