Beltway Briefing Podcast
Polls, Polls, And More Polls . . . What Do They Mean?
July 21, 2020
As coronavirus cases climb, Trump’s poll numbers, stagnant for the first three years of his presidency, have largely evaporated. A double-digit advantage in numerous national polls, solid leads in a number of battleground states, and competitive showings in states Trump carried handily in 2016, suggest Biden is the favorite to win on November 3. Even the Trump campaign’s efforts to define the presumptive democratic nominee with a bombardment of negative advertising, has yet to dent the former vice president. Many people are wary of polls now, however, and understandably so. The overwhelming majority of polls four years ago indicated Trump would lose, too. So why put much faith in the 2020 polls that show Biden consistently on top? Will enthusiasm for a candidate translate into enthusiasm about voting? Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, and Jim Schultz break it all down and discuss what we can expect over the next 105 days, as the pandemic continues, the economy reels, and the election nears.
