Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden are still the most popular potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, according to a new American Barometer poll produced by Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company.
The poll found that Joe Biden had a 50 percent favorability rating with all registered voters, both Republican and Democratic. Sanders had a 48 percent approval rating, matching President Donald Trump's.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, another possible presidential contender, only had a 33 percent favorable rating. Her Senate co-workers Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, all ranked in the low 20s. The Democratic Senators also lacked name recognition: About 30 percent of respondents had never heard of Gillibrand, Booker or Harris.
Still, Margie Omero, a Democratic pollster and partner at GBA Strategies, told The Hill that the field could change dramatically by 2020. "I remember lots of green room snickering over Bernie Sanders in September before the primary," she said. "A lot can change. That doesn't mean that Joe Biden doesn't have an advantage."
Biden will turn 78 in November of 2020, and Sanders will be 79 years old.
A recent poll by NBC News and Marist showed that the majority of voters in three key Midwest states, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, do not believe that President Donald Trump deserves to be re-elected in 2020. The poll also found that the majority of voters in all states will use their votes in this November's midterm election to signal that they believe Congress needs more Democrats to keep the president in check.
"Trump carried or came very close to carrying these three states in 2016. But it's a very different picture for this fall's elections," said Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.
A number of figures in President Donald Trump's social strata have even suggested that the president may not seek re-election in 2020. Trump has "every right to say, 'well, folks, I made America great again. Now I'm going out to the golf course,'" said his former campaign associate Roger Stone.
Still, Democrats face a stagnant field of elderly politicians who have been in the public arena for decades, and voters are unhappy with their options. A July 17 Rasmussen poll found that 73 percent of Democrats ultimately want a "fresh face" for their 2020 presidential candidate. Just 16 percent of Democrats think their party should promote a candidate who has run in the past.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Nicole Goodkind is a political reporter with a focus on Congress. She previously worked as a reporter for Yahoo Finance, ... Read more
