Concerns about Biden's reelection swamped by fear of Trump in swing voter focus groups

[RandySF]

Nearly all of the 15 gathered swing state voters described feeling negative emotions when they saw President Biden on a television or computer screens — “confused,” “concern,” “worry,” “sad,” “sorry” and even “panicked.”

Every single one said they wished Biden and his old Republican foe Donald Trump were not running for reelection. Several offered dire assessments of Biden’s mental and physical capacities, calling him too old or speculating about the possibility of dementia.

But as the focus group moderator steered the conversation to the possibility of a Biden rematch next year with Trump, the mood clearly shifted among these voters, who had all cast a ballot for Trump in 2016 and then Biden in 2020. Nine of the 15 said they would vote again for Biden, three said they would go back to Trump and three said they would either not vote or find a third-party candidate.

Even a 32-year-old recruiting manager from Phoenix, who had described the panic she felt watching Biden, came back into the fold....


But as DeSantis prepares a formal announcement of his campaign, Trump’s leading challenger for the nomination did not perform any better in a hypothetical head-to-head with Biden. The focus group voters cited his controversial positions in Florida and governing style as reasons for turning away from him. A majority of the participants chose Biden in that scenario, with a handful taking DeSantis or saying they were undecided.




https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/22/biden-trump-2024-focus-groups/

[JT45242]

1. Sweet Jeebus 15 f-in people...

Seriously.... journalism is now drawing big conclusions from a sample of 15 f-in people. Probably cherry picked in the screener to agree that Biden is too old or some such nonsense.

And we wonder why the sheeple by this shit.

Of course. I could see Bezos telling the editorial board to push any narrative that keeps Dark Brandon from taxing the billionaires and big corporations that live off the tax abatement scams at local, state, and federal levels.

[Cosmocat]

3. IMO

This is a very accurate representation of where things are.

Joe has been incredible, but the overwhelming majority of Americans are, unfortunately, foaming at the mouth right wing loons OR people who are soft headed enough to be swayed by their bullshit. SO, yeah, most people buy into the crap about how he is old and incapable. BUT, only because 45 and Desatan are THAT bad will some of them default back to him at least being a decent human being.

God forbid a more personable R somehow emerge ...

[stopdiggin]

4. note also, selected for having been

'switch' voters (16 through 20) - which means wishy washy as hell. And 'won't vote or vote third party' - now we're talking truly sh*t for brains!

My bottom line is - there's not a whole lot you can do about people that are this shallow, and/or misinformed - except flood the market with TV adds (maybe a couple Happy Days reruns?) - and hope they're not distracted by a shiny object somewhere between bed and breakfast cereal.

[brooklynite]

5. I'v done market research and focus groups are a useful tool.

There seems to be a vein of “If I wasn’t asked my opinion, a research effort can’t possibly be accurate.

Do you really thin Democratic candidates go into an election blind as to what voters are thinking?

[onethatcares]

23. 15 people out of 300,000,000

sounds like a great sample to me.

and if you whittle it down to repuke voters questioned the numbers are even more representative, right?

It makes absolutely no sense to vote against yourself, nor does it make any sense to vote to take away positive
policies that help yourself, your progeny or your nation.

the media is bought and paid for and all they have to do is regurgitate the party line to maintain their strength and riches

just my opinion.

[brooklynite]

26. I'll be meeting with the DNC Chair this week; shall I pass on your opinion?

Plenty of our candidates utilize polls and focus groups to craft their message; perhaps they're not as perceptive as you are?

[onethatcares]

30. sure.

feel free to do so. Let me know what they think of my opinion, I'd appreciate it.

[Marthe48]

28. Isaac Asimov short story

Franschise: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchise_(short_story)

Kind of ties in with your comment.

[betsuni]

2. My sister's dog walker's cousin's girlfriend's brother said Biden was, like, totally too old.

[3Hotdogs]

7. I puzzled on this for a while. I'm 80. Joe, about the same.

So.

Two things MAY happen to mean the net for years. I might die. OR I might lose my marbles. Same with Joe.

So let's talk about Joe. He dies --- the people who take over are not nut jobs.

He loses his marbles -- 25th Amendment. Again, competent people take over. (This scenario is being muddied by the situation with Sen. Feinstein.)

Now, we look at a trump presidency. No matter how you look at it, it will be a shit show. It will start as a shit show. It will run as a shit show. It will end as a shit show. If he dies or loses it, the result will continue to be a shit show but with different performers.






Carry on.

[Iris]

27. Right? And why all the concern for Biden's agree but no mention of trump's or his shitty lifestyle

[Johnny2X2X]

6. Can you imagine

If the Dem candidate was about to turn 77 years old and was just arrested where his weight was found out to be 274 lbs at 6-1? Where are the health concerns for Trump? Dude is a walking coronary waiting to happen. Yet our 5-11, 175 lb in shape 80 year old president is too old? Maybe Biden should grow his comb over to 4 feet long so he can make it look like he has a full head of hair at the same time he sprays himself down with bright orange wood stain every morning.

Mymmoney is on Biden living longer and being more capable and productive into his mid to late 80s.

[RussBLib]

10. Welcome to DU!

You WOULD BE worried about that? Or you ARE worried about that?

Which district is that, by the way?

I am hearing that despite being 80, he looks pretty damn good, and every time I hear him speak, he seems just fine. Maybe a stumble now and then, but most people stumble a little when they talk.

[marble falls]

15. You got that right. IF Joe had any serious mental deterioration Fox'd be on it 24/7 instead of ...

... of their sad little blooper reels recut and repeated.

And if Joe had some sort of serious office ending problems, we have Kamala Harris in the bull pen. Who'd the Orange Shitgibbon have - holy Mike Pence, another late seventy guy who can't seem to stop worshiping the guy who thought it would have been OK if a mob had strung him up the ONLY time he did his job according to the law and Constitution.

I just got to wonder about "Democrats" who keep referring to stirrings of people concerned with Joe Biden's mental acuity.

[ITAL]

19. Pence is actually 63

He's not in his late 70s. I get your point and I agree Biden is far more with it than Trump (not to mention Trump's dad DID get dementia and was apparently practically a nut his last few years), but Pence is only about 5 years older than Kamala Harris. He's not some old guy.

[marble falls]

20. He acts like he's in his 70's - he's just like me, another old white haired white guy.

[ITAL]

24. But he's not

And when Trump became President, Pence was in his 50s. If Trump had died of a heart attack or whatever, there would have been no big worry that Pence would get die himself, since he was in the normal strike zone for presidential age.

[marble falls]

25. His and his families businesses truly hurt Indianapolis. This guy thinks he predestined to be POTUS.

... he's gawd anointed. The way he projects his virtue is almost tawdry. HE'S the dangerous possible. He seems ready to do whatever it takes. He'll be the dumbest President, ever. He looks more 70 than I do!

[Kingofalldems]

11. Got a link on that?

[obamanut2012]

12. Sure, Jan

How about a link if your first post is going to be so... interesting?

[marble falls]

13. Because 45 and Ron Puddingfingers are all so sharp witted and on the ball?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

14. I was a day one contributor to the Biden campaign and met President Biden twice in person

Welcome to DU

Back in 2019, I was at two fundraisers where President Biden was the guest of honor. The man is very sharp and has a great sense of humor. I was a stutterer until 4th grade and I got to discuss stuttering with President Biden. Some or most of the gaffes are largely due to overcoming stuttering.

I was amused when after getting President Bided to sign some floor speech signs from the 2016 Convention (I was a Hillary delegate), President Biden took my iphone and snapped three selfies better than I could. I have seen since that President Biden is a selfie pro.

Link to tweet

https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-biden-health-covid-government-and-politics-0d509314ba9b0602a073781f9e7b4f8d?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

— One handshake, one hug and one selfie at a time. If President Joe Biden could greet every American this way, longtime allies say, his approval ratings would soar.

Biden has never been at his best in big speeches, where his delivery can be stilted, his stories sometimes meandering. It’s the end of his speech that often marks the beginning of Biden’s favorite part of an event — the rope line, in the parlance of political operatives. He whirls around, scans the crowd and zeroes in on his first target for a one-on-one connection.

Aides say the 79-year-old has perfected his selfie arm, the products of which are widely shared on social media.

At an August event for Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore, Biden spent more than 75 minutes across three different rooms greeting people after the speechmaking had ended. He drew cheers when he grabbed hold of a high school drum major’s baton and then posed with it for a photo before the marching band.

It’s all part of an approach Biden has largely perfected through decades of glad-handing in his home state of Delaware, whose population is just over 1 million and was about half that when Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972.

I am not worried about President Biden being up to the job.

[marble falls]

16. I just got to wonder about "Democrats" who keep referring to stirrings by nameless people ...

... about Joe Biden's mental acuity in the face of no evidence supporting any problem.

What other Democrats are you concerned about????

[ShazzieB]

17. You must live in an unusual district.

In my experience, the people claiming Joe looks "old and confused" are not Democrats. What district are ou in again?

[BumRushDaShow]

18. The district was here

(I was on a jury for that one )

[marble falls]

21. Shit! I knew that'd never stand an alert!!! I missed the pizza party, too!

[BumRushDaShow]

22. Took awhile

but...

[WarGamer]

29. According to this focus group...

20% of Trump to Biden voters... (16 to 20) will go back to Trump in 24.

I really can't see that.

What kind of person would go from Trump to Biden but then back again after all we've seen??