President Joe Biden does worse than any other alternative Democratic nominee against former President Donald Trump, according to an internal BlueLabs poll reported on Wednesday.
Democratic leadership is circulating findings that put Biden at an average of 3 points behind alternative candidates, including Vice President Kamala Harris, across all swing states, according to Politico.
However, candidates like Harris who are tied closely to the administration perform worse than other alternative candidates, which might signal to leadership that voters are looking for a fresh face.
A polling memo circulating among Dem party officials argues that the best chance to defeat Trump is with a new nominee independent of the incumbent admin.
In other words: not Kamala Harris.
Playbook has more ⬇️https://t.co/uZZfFPeXmK
— POLITICO (@politico) July 17, 2024
Since Biden’s poor performance in the June 27 debate, several Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Rep. Mike Levin of California, have publicly called for the top of the ticket to be replaced with another candidate.
Of the alternative candidates, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly polled the strongest, outpacing Biden by roughly 5 points across battleground states, according to the poll.
Replacing Biden with an alternative might be enough to eclipse Trump’s well-established lead in key swing states, the report said.
Trump’s lead in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia averages 4.2 points, according to RealClearPolling.
Should Democrats replace Biden at the top of the ticket?
Ideas of replacing Biden with an alternative candidate resonate the most among independents, young voters and infrequent voters, according to the poll.
If Biden were replaced, support for a Democratic candidate from independents would increase by 9 percent, support from voters under 40 would increase by 12 percent and support from infrequent voters would increase by 10 percent.
Nearly twice as many voters prioritize nominating the best candidate rather than deferring to the current Democratic line of succession, according to the poll.
Across voters, 44 percent said the nominee should be the “best nominee no matter who,” while only 24 percent said it should be Harris.
The Blue Labs internal poll reported by Politico surveyed 15,000 voters across Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia from July 5 to July 12.
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