President Trump’s re-election odds & the state of the Democrat’s race
Bottom Line: The odds are President Donald Trump will be re-elected in 2020. Why?
- 65% of Presidents who run for re-election win
That becomes the baseline for President Trump entering this cycle. The 65% is based on nearly two-thirds of all incumbent Presidents who’ve run for re-election winning. There are other numbers that come into play, based on a president’s approval ratings as we close in on Election Day. I’m able to track President Trump’s reelection odds-based upon history and approval ratings. Here’s where we stand as of today.
- 48% based on average polling (based on an average approval rating of 42%)
- 67% based on likely voters (based on a likely voter approval rating of 48%)
As has consistently been the case, his performance among likely voters is stronger, and that’s reflected with President Trump still being a favorite to win based on likely voters alone. To the extent that the challenger can impact the race, that provides the road map for Democrats. Given that the odds are best for President Trump with likely voters, a Democrat who can most successfully appeal to non-likely voters would be the best opportunity for Democrats in the upcoming election. Speaking of which here’s how their race looks this week.
Current average polling with the changes since last week.
- Biden: 29% (+2)
- Warren: 23% (-4)
- Sanders: 15% (flat)
- Buttigieg: 6% (+1)
- Harris: 5% (+1)
Now this one’s interesting for some clearly obvious reasons. Weren’t we just conditioned to the notion that Joe Biden was yesterday’s news and Elisabeth Warren was the front-runner? After all, the third rated show Tuesday night (behind NCIS and FBI), featured a debate that targeted Warren as though she was the front-runner. Well, she’s not anymore. At least for the moment. The next week will be interesting as full post-debate data rolls in (but then again if no one watched it?...).