Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:23 am
Both former vice president Joe Biden, and Sen. Bernie Sanders hold double-digit leads over President Donald Trump in a way too early poll of potential 2020 matchups.
PPP found, “Joe Biden 54/40, Bernie Sanders 52/41, Elizabeth Warren 48/43, Al Franken 46/41, and Cory Booker 45/42 in head to head matchups. Biden (56/33 favorability) and Sanders (53/36) are among the most popular political figures in the country. Voters are more divided on Warren (42/39) and Franken (34/34). Booker is not as well known nationally as the rest of this group yet, coming in at 27/24.”
The answer for Democrats in 2020 isn’t running a nearly 80-year-old Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders. Sen. Warren will be 70 by the time the 2020 election rolls around, which means that she will be younger than Donald Trump, but she wouldn’t fit the contrast of youth that Democrats would hope to project to voters when potentially facing the nearly 75-year-old Trump. Sen. Franken will also be nearing 70 years of age by 2020, so while all of these figures are popular with the Democratic base, none of them really fit a message that Democrats are the diverse political party of the future.
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Sen. Cory Booker is the one potential candidate on the list who stands out. As PPP pointed out, Booker is not as well known nationally, which means that he will not be as easy for Trump and the Republicans define.
It was reported that Republicans have a brutal opposition file assembled against Bernie Sanders that is two feet thick. When Trump says that he would love to run against a Warren or a Sanders, he isn’t kidding. Republicans are already prepared for each of the progressive favorites.
The fact that every potential Democratic candidate leads Donald Trump shows the weakness of the incumbent president. Biden and Sanders are the two potential candidates with the biggest leads because they are the two most nationally well-known figures in the poll.
As much fun as it would be to see a Biden or Sanders go head to head with Trump, the future of the party is with people in the age range of Cory Booker and younger. There is a reason why the last two victorious Democratic presidents were 46 (Bill Clinton) and 47 years old (Barack Obama) when they won their first terms.
Trump looks like he will be a historically weak incumbent president. The opportunity will be there Democrats to win back the White House, but they will need to put aside nostalgia and run a new face against an old and unpopular president.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
