Colin O'Malley
As the road to the 2020 Presidential elections continues, Democratic candidates are beginning to emerge in distinct tiers to face off against the leading Republican candidate running for reelection, Donald Trump.
In recent news, the sprawling field of 23 Democratic candidates has narrowed down to 19. However, only ten have made the cut for the September debate held in Houston.
Of these ten, three place themselves as the frontrunners for the democratic nomination: former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Senator Elizabeth Warren. According to polls conducted by the Economist, Emerson, and Quinnipiac, Biden has approximately 29% support and an 11% lead over both Warren and Sanders who hover at about 18% support each.
A recent poll to come out from Monmouth has actually shown each of the frontrunners in a virtual tie. However, this poll has been scrutinized for its relatively low sample size of 298 compared to Quinnipiac’s sample of 807. This difference is allowing many, including the campaign of Joe Biden, to criticize its viability. The other seven candidates who made the next debate stage have fallen into a much lower tier, earning mainly single figure percentages.
Most candidates have avoided massive drops in polling except Kamala Harris. Harris initially saw a surge in poll numbers following her performance in the first debate, but has since gone from polling a modest 14% throughout most of July to polling half of that going into September at 7 %.
On the Republican side, polling performances vary less as current President Trump holds a firm lead over opposition being projected to win the nomination over his main opponent, former Governor Bill Weld, by almost 73 points. Still notably, both Weld and former talk-show host Joe Walsh, have decided to challenge the current President for nomination despite President Trump’s job approval rating being at 89% within the Republican party, according to a gallup poll.
As polls fluctuate with the passage of time, so do the opinions of Americans change. This election is still anybody’s game.
