Democrats get warning sign about running anyone from Biden-Harris administration against Trump

A new poll showed poor results if Democrats decide to run anyone from the Biden-Harris administration against former President Donald Trump.

A polling memo from BlueLabs Analytics, which concluded just before the Saturday assassination attempt, surveyed 15,000 voters across seven battleground states. The findings, obtained by Politico, are sure to give fuel to rivals of President Joe Biden within the Democratic Party, finding that nearly every other Democrat tested performed better than him in a matchup with former President Donald Trump. His administration also seems to have had a toxic effect, with candidates unconnected to the administration performing better than those who served in it.

“Alternative Democratic candidates run ahead of President Biden by an average of three points across the battleground states,” the polling memo said. “Nearly every tested Democrat performs better than the President. This includes Vice President [Kamala] Harris who runs better than the President (but behind the average alternative).”

“Voters are looking for a fresh face,” it added. “Those more closely tied to the current administration perform relatively worse than other tested candidates.” 

It found the strongest candidates were Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Govs. Wes Moore (D-MD), Josh Shapiro (D-PA), and Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), all of whom polled above Biden “by roughly 5 points across battleground states.”

The “fresh” candidates were found to draw in undecided voters and previous third-party supporters but also poached votes from Trump.

The voting groups most likely to grow support for the Democrats are voters under 40, independents, and infrequent voters.

The assassination attempt against Trump on Saturday has diverted national attention away from Biden’s candidacy, but the new data could refocus some attention. Speaking anonymously, one of the congressional leaders of the effort to oust Biden told Politico that a renewed effort would take place following the end of the Republican National Convention.

“The shooting clearly helped the strategy of Biden’s team to run out the clock,” this Democratic lawmaker said. “It also stopped what would have been a number of members going public after the very unhelpful calls with members on Saturday. But it’s not over. Senior [Democratic] leaders have not changed their minds that Biden needs to get out. I think a final push will come once the R convention ends on Thursday.”

Biden has maintained he will not step down as Democratic nominee and has shown no signs of changing his mind.