It is always wise to take surveys with a grain of salt. We have seen them get it “wrong” all too often in recent years, probably for a variety of reasons. However, if they indicate a trend in general, or if they contradict what one would expect from a particular outlet/outfit given one’s disposition, they should still be taken into account.
CBS News is with its last poll after the presidential debate on Thursday night – and it paints a bleak picture for President Joe Biden.
CBS News poll: After the debate, more voters say President Biden should not run for re-election.
https://t.co/iE44UqKlhL— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 30, 2024
Months before the first debateThe country’s voters have repeatedly expressed doubts about whether President Biden is cognitively fit enough to hold office.
Today, these doubts are even greater: they now affect almost three quarters of the electorate and now also many within his own party.
And today, after the debate with former President TrumpA growing number of voters, including many Democrats, believe that Biden should not run for president at all. Nearly half of his party believes he should not be the nominee now.
Since the debate, the number of registered voters who believe Biden is mentally and cognitively fit enough to be president has declined by 7 to 8 percent. The latest figures show that only 27 percent of respondents believe this, while 72 percent believe he is not.
Of course, CBS must acknowledge that its opponent, former President Donald Trump, is not exactly ahead on this issue:
(Trump fares better, but only half of voters still believe he is cognitively fit enough to serve.)
Fifty percent of respondents believe Trump is fit for the job; 49 percent disagree. But if I were Trump’s camp, I would prefer a 50/49 split on this issue over a 72/27 split any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
What really hurts Biden, however, is the remarkable shift in Democratically Voters who believe he should not run for president. A full 10 percent of his own party’s voters have moved from the “should” column to the “shouldn’t” column since February. I guess you could say he’s still “above water” on this issue within his party, since 54 percent believe he should run. But by contrast, 85 percent of Trump’s Republican voters think he should run.
RELATED: Biden’s take on his debate performance is crazy,
but CNN’s snap poll is a harsh reality check
Again, I caution against reading too much into polls, but when there is a 30-point difference in the parties’ views on whether their respective candidate (and likely candidate) should even run, that does not bode well for the one who comes up brief.
In all the excitement since the debate, calls for Biden to resign have grown louder within Biden’s own party. And while the Biden campaign team claims such rumors are nonsense, the president is meeting with his family at Camp David today and, according to at least some reports, discussing the future of his campaign.
Report: Biden expected to meet with his family at Camp David
to discuss the future of his campaign
Biden’s team responds to calls for his resignation after a miserable debate performance
If you’ve been more than a casual observer of election campaigns over the years, you may have noticed this pattern: Each candidate/campaign steadfastly denies that they’re dropping out of the race… right up until the moment they do. I’ve been wrong about this prediction before, so take it with the same skepticism you have about polls, but… something tells me they’re going to rip that Band-Aid off sooner rather than later.
