Key Takeaways from Mid-October 2020 NBC/WSJ Survey

With less than a month before the election, the president may have recovered from COVID-19, but there is no quick remedy to cure his standing with voters. While Donald Trump’s vitals are slightly improved from a disastrous debate performance, the internal signs, or the margins, remain alarming for the Trump campaign: 96% of Democrats are voting for Biden, compared with 88% of Republicans for Trump.  91% of Black voters are voting for Biden, just 4% for Trump. Women say they are voting for Biden by 60% to 34% (as a side note, if Biden reaches 60% on Election Day, going all the way back to 1972 only Richard Nixon reached this level among women in his landslide against George McGovern).  In a sign of the generations coming together, 54% of seniors and 57% of 18- to 34-year-olds say they are voting for Biden, and there is not a single age group where Biden does not reach 50%. 

Some other key insights:

  • The economy remains the top issue—one where Trump and Republicans enjoy an advantage over Democrats.
  • Voters believe that THEY are better off than they were 4 years ago, even if they don’t believe that is true for the country (and they seem to be voting country first).
  • Of the concerns voters heard about each candidate, the concerns about Trump are greater—most prominently that Trump will divide the country (53% major concerns) and that Trump does not have the right temperament to serve as Commander-in-Chief (49% major concerns). By contrast, the TOP concern about Biden is that he will allow the Democratic Party to pursue very liberal policies (41% say they have major concerns).

Click HERE for the full results from the poll.

Selected Articles:

Biden continues to hold double-digit national lead over Trump in NBC News/WSJ poll

Biden Has 11-Point Lead Over Trump Less Than Three Weeks to Election Day