Joe Biden maintains a solid lead over President Donald Trump on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, according to polls that at least partly reflected his choice of Senator Kamala Harris as running mate.
Biden was up by 9 percentage points according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday, and by 10 points in a CBS News poll of likely voters nationwide. The RealClearPolitics average of general election polls, which includes the latest surveys, shows Biden leading by 7.9 points.
In 11 combined battleground states polled by NBC/WSJ -- Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- Biden was up by 7 points, 49% to 42%.
The former vice president leads Trump on most major issues, including on who would better handle the coronavirus, while the president maintains a double-digit lead on handling the economy.
A majority of potential Biden voters, 58%, say their support is based more on their feelings against Trump. By contrast, 74% of Trump voters cite their support for the president, NBC said.
Harris Factor
The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted Aug. 9-12 among 900 registered voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. The CBS survey was conducted by YouGov, with 2,210 registered voters surveyed Aug. 12-14. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
Separately, an ABC News/Washington Post survey showed that 54% of voters approve of Biden’s election of Harris as his running mate, including 86% of Democrats, 25% of Republicans and 52% of independents.
CBS polling showed that 61% of Democrats said adding Harris to the ticket improved Biden’s chances of winning. Some 53% of “very liberal” voters were enthusiastic about Harris and another 32% were satisfied with the choice, CBS said. Among “somewhat liberal” voters, 50% were enthusiastic and 36% were satisfied.
Going into the party convention, which starts Monday, Democrats surveyed by CBS said they want to keep things positive and to focus on what Biden and Harris would do if elected.
CBS pollsters said the electoral map has expanded over the summer with a number of states previously seen as going Republican -- including Arizona, Georgia and Texas -- potentially in play.
Biden also leads in three Midwest states that voted for Trump in 2016: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
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