Poll: Trump Flat, Biden Gaining Favorability

There are some clickbait, horserace polls showing up out there that would have you believe COVID Donnie's circus last week turned things around and that the presidential race is tightening. The new ABC News/Ipsos poll calls bullshit:

President Donald Trump's efforts to build his appeal and define his opponent at the Republican National Convention, using pageantry and the White House as the backdrop, had little apparent impact on the electorate's impressions of both him and former Vice President Joe Biden, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds.

Trump's week of celebration did not improve his favorability, even among his own base, and the country still remains widely critical of his handling of the major crisis of his presidency: COVID-19.

Less than one-third (31%) of the country has a favorable view of the president in the days after he accepted the Republican nomination for the second time -- a stagnant reality for Trump. His favorability rating stood at 32% in the last poll, taken a week earlier, right after the Democratic National Convention.

Trump finds himself in a much different position than his chief rival.

In the new survey, which was conducted using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel, Biden's favorability remains higher than his unfavorability, 46% to 40%, solidifying his improvement in favorability from last week, when attitudes about the Democratic nominee improved to a net positive from his slightly underwater position prior to the convention.

Biden's favorability ticked up from 40% in an Aug. 13 poll to 45% just after the Democratic convention.  (our emphasis)

We have to be mindful of the polls, especially at the state level, but not be ruled by them.  They serve as signposts to where more effort and resources may need to be directed.  But, Joe Biden's lead has been remarkably steady since the Spring. Now that we have a solid ticket, the campaign will begin in earnest.

This is by far the most important election of our lifetimes, and as we've said so often, we have to keep the foot on the gas up to and through November 3 to make sure our democracy survives.