Days before the U.S. presidential election, opinion polls show that democratic nominee Joe Biden is significantly ahead of incumbent Donald Trump in the race for the White House. While Biden appeals to a broad variety of people cutting across age, race and gender lines, Trump holds an edge among white, male, older and under-educated voters.
Poll favourite
According to data from multiple opinion polls, aggregated by fivethirtyeight.com, a U.S.- based news website, Biden had a 10.7% point lead over Trump in national polls as of October 17. In March, the gap was narrower (4%-6% points). It widened in June (6%-9.5% points) and increased further in October (8%-10.5% points).
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Not the other
According to a study by the Pew Research Center, views on Trump are central to voting choices — both among his supporters and Biden’s. In October, 63% of Biden’s supporters said their choice was more a vote “against Trump”. Also, 71% of Trump’s supporters said their choice was more a vote “for Trump".
Also read: Final presidential debate: Trump and Biden clash on pandemic, trade personal jabs at final debate
Preference mapping
Overall, Biden enjoys significant acceptance across gender, race, age and education lines. However, Trump holds a slight advantage over Biden in certain sections of the population. Charts show the % of voters who would vote for Biden/Trump if the presidential election was to be held today*. Among both men and women, Biden was favoured by the majority, though the gap was narrow among men.
*Pew surveyed 11,929 adults, including 10,543 registered voters, during the last week of Sept. and the first week of Oct. 2020
