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Whatever the real or imagined problems of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s gaffes and age, the polls continue to show that voters like him a lot more than his younger competitors.
Indeed, if age is a problem for voters, one would never know it from the way the Real Clear Politics average is shaking out. The three candidates on top, Biden, 76; Bernie Sanders, 77; and Indian Elizabeth Warren, 70, are the oldest in the field of 13 on the RCP chart.
Age, apparently, isn’t as much a concern for voters as it is for the pundits and professionals.
The Latest Numbers
However bad Biden’s blunders, and whatever his age, his competitors just can’t seem to knock him out of first place.
The RCP average today has him 11.8 points ahead of Sanders, 28.9 to 17.1, and 12.4 points ahead of Warren. Harris is choking on Biden’s dust at seven percent, 21.9 points behind.
The rest of the field isn’t worth discussing. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, polls at 4.6 percent of voters. None of the rest, Andrew Yang (44), Cory Booker (50), Beto O’Rourke (46), Tulsi Gabbard (38), Julián Castro (44), Amy Klobuchar (59), Steve Bullock (53), and Marianne Williamson (67), even crack three percent.
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A breakdown of the eight most recent polls shows just how strong Biden’s lead is. Granted, Economist/YouGov, August 24-27; and Emerson, August 24-26, give Biden four- and seven-point leads, while Monmouth, August 16-20, has him tied.
But the others give Biden double-digit leads, the largest being USA Today/Suffolk, August 20-25, at 18. In that one, Biden beat Warren 32-14. Sanders polled 20 points behind Biden at 12.
A CNN poll of August 15-18 gave Biden a 14-point margin over Sanders, 29-15. Warren’s number was 14.
The other three polls — The Hill/Harris X, August 23-24; Quinnipiac, August 21-26; Politico/Morning Consult, August 19-25 — have Biden ahead by 13 points. Sanders was second in two, 30-17 in Hill/Harris and 33-20 in Politico/Morning Consult. Warren was second in Quinnipiac, 32-19.
Harris reached 10 percent in just one of the last eight, the Emerson survey. Removing that, her average for the remaining seven is an embarrassing 6.6 percent.
Ages
Yet those data points also show that voters don’t seem too concerned about age. Biden and Sanders were born during the Roosevelt administration — Franklin, not Teddy. Warren was born the day Ezzard Charles beat Jersey Joe Walcott for the heavyweight title.
Biden will be pushing 78 if elected; Sanders will be 79. Warren will be 71.
Despite these actuarials, the three oldest candidates are dusting the rest of the field, including Harris, a youthful 54.
Buttigieg can’t get traction despite his youth. And 38-year-old Tulsi Gabbard, the surfing congresswoman from the Hawaiian Islands, can’t seem to get above one percent.
In four of the eight most recent polls, she notched one percent. In one, she polled a zero.
Message: If age is a problem for Biden or the two other top candidates, Democrats don’t know it.
Image: Marc Nozell / flickr.com
