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Polls, it must be remembered, are a snapshot of voters’ thinking at one point in time, rather than a prediction of the bottom line. Between 600 and 1,000 people were surveyed in each of the six states.
There are other insights in the polls about the thinking of the electorate in the battlefield states that help explain the state of the race and where the key clashes are between the candidates.
Despite being in charge during the historic economic downturn triggered by the coronavirus lockdown, Trump continues to outperform Biden.
The position reflects Trump’s perceived strengths as a real estate mogul and celebrity businessman who oversaw booming growth for three years of his presidency compared to Biden, a former vice president who has spent five decades in Washington politics.
It’s a political weakness that Biden’s campaign will seek to address in the coming weeks, especially given that if the number of coronavirus cases begins to fall, voters may increasingly think about who is best positioned to lead the economic recovery.
When voters were asked which policy area would likely determine how they would vote, the highest ranking area in the six states was the economy, an indication of how voters keep their wallets in mind. The second area was medical care.
One Trump campaign move that appears to have had mixed results is his attacks on the Democratic candidate’s mental acuity.
Voters in all six states were largely divided on whether Trump or Biden are “in good physical and mental health,” suggesting that the problem is not the hit the president would like.
Other results reinforce the continuing impact of the pandemic on Americans. About a third of voters in battlefield states say they are uncomfortable voting in person at the polls, fueling expectations that a historic number of votes will be cast by mail.
