Fears that Joe Biden will not secure re-election to the White House have increased in the last week, with several personalities asking for the candidate to be replacedafter a disastrous debate against Donald Trump. The main alternative pointed out by Americans lies in the former first lady, Michelle Obama, according to a poll by the Reuters agency in conjunction with Ipsos, a market research company, carried out in the aftermath of the confrontation between the candidates.
Among the names already mentioned to succeed Joe Biden, only the wife of former President Barack Obama can overcome the intention to vote for Donald Trump. In a hypothetical race between the two candidates, Michelle Obama would have 50% of the vote, compared to Trump, who would only have 39% of the vote. The poll indicates that Michelle would be able to capture the votes of voters who are dissatisfied with the two current candidates and who do not intend to vote with the current scenario.
The support is considerable, although Michelle Obama has mentioned it several times, including in her memoir “Becoming–My Storyâ€, who did not intend to run for president. The former first lady has also shown her support for Biden’s candidacy, although Barack Obama has confessed, in private to his allies, according to the “Washington Postâ€that the current President will have difficulties in being re-elected after the weak debate.
Voting intention in the election of the President of the United States
Kamala Harris, one of the favorites to take Biden’s place if he withdraws from the race, would also lose the popular vote, with 42% compared to Trump’s 43%. Statistically, the vice president would collect the same number of votes as Joe Biden, due to the poll’s 3.5% margin of error.
Evelyn Hockstein / Reuters
Despite Kamala Harris’ alleged favoritism among Democrats – the “Washington Post†assures that the vice-president is already gaining strong support within the party – only 40% of North American voters have a favorable image of the possible candidate. A value close to the 42% who evaluate Trump positively and the 38% who analyze Biden in the same way. Michelle Obama stands out in this assessment, with 55% saying they have a favorable opinion of the former first lady.
Favorable opinion of voters depending on the candidate in the presidential elections
The debate over which candidate should take the place of the current President, in case of withdrawal from the electoral race, will continue, but there is one certainty in this poll: more than half of Americans (56%) think Biden should give up. With 10 percentage points down, 46% believe that Trump should abdicate. A revealing scenario of the absolute polarization in public opinion.
Voters’ opinions on the withdrawal of candidates from the presidential elections in the USA
After the debate, in which Biden made mistakes and frequently lost coherence, the President attributed his poor performance to jet lag for having made two trips in which he passed “through 100 time zones†. “I didn’t listen to my team, I came back and almost fell asleep on stage”, said the President. “This is not an excuse, but it is an explanation”, he further declared.
