According to a new poll by Reuters, only one Democrat would manage to beat Donald Trump if they were to face him in the November 5 election. And he would do so in a marked way, with a lead of 11 percentage points. Only problem? This candidate has repeatedly expressed his lack of interest in running.
The poll was conducted among more than a thousand Americans over the past two days. It was expected, after President Joe Biden’s disastrous performance in his first debate with Trump last week.
Also Read: Presidential debate: Biden and a faltering performance that caused a wave of panic among Democrats
Both Biden and Trump appear to get 40% of the vote. Mr. Biden thus improves his score compared to the previous Reuters and Ipsos polls of June 11 and 12, where he obtained 39% against 41% for his Republican rival. One in three Democrats believes that the current president of the United States should withdraw from the presidential race.
Who is to take up the challenge?
So who should take on the challenge instead? None of the Democrats whose names are currently circulating fare better than Biden in a potential showdown with Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris is a close second. She would lose with 42% to Trump’s 43%, respectively, but that difference is within the poll’s margin of error, which is 3.5 percentage points. Statistically, she is therefore doing as well as President Biden.
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, would lose with 39% to 42% for Trump, Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky with 36% to 40% for Trump, Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois with 34% to 40% for Trump, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan with 36% to Trump’s 41%.
Not interested
There’s only one Democrat who would do better than Trump and completely crush him, and that’s former first lady Michelle Obama. She would outperform Trump in a potential matchup by 50% to 39%. However, Mrs. Obama has already made it clear several times that she is not interested.
In another Oprah Winfrey interview from the previous year, she struck the mark. “I never showed a political interest. In the past. I consented to help my husband. He wanted to do it, and he was great at it. I never once said, though, that I thought I would never want to work in politics.”
According to Michelle Obama, politics must be done with the heart and the soul. “With me, that wouldn’t be the case,” she clarified.
