Heading into tonight’s debate with GOP candidate and former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden received some bad news.
Trump has expanded his lead in the national election polls as well as some battleground states that could decide the election, the Real Clear Politics Average of election polls shows. Though Biden has pared Trump’s lead in some states, Trump still leads by handy margins.
A Trump victory in tonight’s debate, when Americans get a good look at the aging, infirm president in action, might seal a win in November.
The Numbers
Perhaps the biggest stunner for Biden is the latest New York Times-Siena poll that put Trump four points ahead, 48-44, among likely voters.
And for registered voters, Trump came out six points ahead, 48-42.
Those numbers followed another bad survey for Biden. A recent Quinnipiac survey also put Trump four points ahead, 49-45.
A recent Rasmussen poll has Trump clobbering Biden by nine points, 49-40.
Those numbers, plus the RCP average, are bad news for Biden, who voters increasingly perceive as unable to do his job.
The RCP average of general election polls gives Trump a 1.5-point lead, 46.6-45.1.
Trump has prevailed in 10 of the last 20 polls with four ties.
Numbers aside, the Times-Siena poll revealed that Biden is a weak candidate, even among Democrat supporters.
“Voters overall say they now trust Mr. Trump more on the issues that matter most to them,” the Times reported.
As well, Democrats voters are much more reluctant to embrace Biden as their man than Republicans are to embrace Trump.
Age is another issue, the Times survey showed.
“Age remains a clear challenge for Mr. Biden, 81, even though Mr. Trump, 78, would also be the oldest president ever to serve if he wins,” the Times continued:
Roughly 70 percent of voters view Mr. Biden as too old to be effective, including a majority of Biden voters. Those figures are virtually unchanged since April.
“He’s done good things in the past, but he’s too old,” Philip Hopkins, 78, a retired Democrat living in Peoria, Ariz., said of Mr. Biden.
Mr. Hopkins said he worried that the president’s age might result in a loss to Mr. Trump. “That age thing, that could cost us our freedom,” he said. “It could cost us the destruction of our country.”
In contrast, only about 40 percent of voters view Mr. Trump as too old.
Swing State Trouble, Job Approval
Significantly, Trump has increased his lead in some swing states, the RCP average shows.
Trump has expanded his lead in Arizona by a full point, from 4.6 percent to 5.6.
Likewise, he’s up a half-point in North Carolina, from 5.3 to 5.8. Trump also widened his margin in all-important Pennsylvania from 2.3 to 2.8.
Though Trump lost ground in Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan, he’s still ahead in all but Wisconsin, where he and Biden are tied.
Biden’s job approval is in the tank: 56.1 percent of those polled think he’s doing a bad job.
That number is even worse when broken down by issues. A whopping 60.2 percent of those polled disapprove of his immigration policies, which include inviting an invasion of penniless, illiterate Third World “migrants.”
Another 59.5 percent disapprove of Biden’s foreign policy, while 61 percent think he is mishandling inflation.
Given those numbers, no wonder 64.9 percent of those surveyed think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
On every front, voters tell pollsters, Biden has failed, and miserably so.
Tonight’s Debate
Tonight’s debate might be Biden’s only chance to turn around what appears to be a certain loss in November.
The problem for Biden: His age, and the time of the debate — 9:00 p.m. Given Biden’s advancing dementia, he might well be sundowning by that time. Sundowning, late afternoon-evening anger and confusion, is a common symptom among those suffering with dementia.
Biden’s puppet masters must be terrified that he might serve up some false memories about his past as a civil rights leader or long-haul truck driver. Or perhaps, noting that Trump threatens democracy, he might regale the nation with a tale about his Uncle Bosie, who died while defending democracy in the South Pacific and was eaten by cannibals on New Guinea.
Worse, given what has occurred at the recent G7 meeting in Italy and other public events, he might well not know where he is.
Speaking on The View to promote his new book, Bill Maher explained that Biden is, well, old.
Biden “presents as old,” he said:
It’s not really fair, because he’s almost the same age — Trump is almost the same age as him but Trump doesn’t present that way. You look at somebody, you can kind of just sum them up.… I saw him yesterday making that speech. I mean, I’m sorry, he’s cadaver-like.
Voters think so, too. A recent poll showed that 49 percent expect Biden to forget where he is, 41 percent expect him to walk off the wrong side of the stage, and 40 percent expect him to have problems standing up.
But he can’t be “cadaver-like” tonight, particularly next to Trump, who is alert, strong, vigorous, and seemingly ready for anything, even at 78 years old.
One possible problem for Trump would be appearing to pick on an old, infirm man.
