The results of last weekend’s New York Times/Siena College poll, which shows Joe Biden lagging behind Donald Trump in five of six key swing states, are causing heartburn among many Democratic strategists worried about the future of Biden’s presidential campaign. On Sunday, Nov. 5, as soon as the poll results came out, former Obama adviser David Axelrod right away suggested that Biden may want to think about withdrawing from the race, after which several others jumped in with worried “analyses.” London Daily Mail tabloid chronicled some of them.
James Carville, a longtime Clinton strategist, reports that he’s been watching Biden’s numbers for months and remarked that “this poll is totally unsurprising.” Biden’s numbers have been low for quite a while, so this latest poll has become “some kind of tipping point” for Democrats. However, he went on, what’s really needed now is “more data so Democrats can determine their next steps.” For all those now wailing about the poll numbers, Carville asked, “where have you been for the last five months?”
Another Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg told the Daily Mail, “we have work to do. We’re not where we want to be a year out. It’s not really surprising. We all want to be in a better place, but we’re not freaking out about it.” This poll should be taken “very, very seriously,” said another former Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer.
Meanwhile, Rolling Stone reports that, according to the same New York Times/Siena poll, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is polling ahead of Biden and Trump among voters under 45 years old in key battleground states. Results showed that he was favored by 24% of respondents in a three-way race with Biden and Trump. Among voters ages 18-29, he was selected by 34% of respondents against Biden (30%) and Trump (29%).
