(ReliableNews.org) – In America, the candidate who receives the most votes doesn’t necessarily win the presidency. What matters is electoral votes. Whoever gets to 270 wins. Some states have historically gone to the Republicans or the Democrats and are relatively certain. But several swing states could go either way, and locking those in could mean winning the White House. An exclusive poll from The Wall Street Journal recently showed one candidate is leading in six of the seven key areas.
What Happened?
The WSJ poll showed former President Donald Trump between two and eight points ahead of President Joe Biden in North Carolina, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Arizona. In Wisconsin, however, the US leader is ahead by three. The main reason for Biden falling behind seemed to be the economy and doubts that he could perform for another four years from the Oval Office.
The survey showed that negative views of Biden’s presidency so far were between 16% and 20% more prevalent in 4 states than positive views. On the other hand, the negative only outweighed the positive for Trump’s presidency in one state—Arizona.
Those polled also had some concerns about both of the candidates’ mental fitness, but Trump won out there, too. The former president scored 20 points ahead of Biden for mental and physical fitness. The survey was conducted in mid-March, polling 600 voters by phone from each of the swing states. The WSJ put the margin of error at 1.5% overall and as much as 4% in each state.
Is Trump a Lock?
Not quite. The president still has a chance to win over voters by leaning into the abortion issue and pointing out Trump’s role in seating Supreme Court justices that overturned Roe v. Wade. Biden also needs to convince undecided voters that he’s the man for the job. The number of votes up for grabs is as high as 28% in battleground states — a significant block. However, the economy and immigration are big issues pushing many toward the former president. Many of those surveyed believe Trump would do a better job with inflation, immigration, and the economy than Biden.
Another issue highlighted in the poll was support for third-party candidates, pulling about 15% across swing states — a number that could affect the general election. However, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is more popular among Republicans than Democrats, according to the polling. That could spell trouble for the former president in the general election. It seems that both candidates have their work cut out for them over the next seven months.
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