New Poll: Trump or Biden to Lose Three Percent to Another Candidate?

In a new survey conducted by Echelon Insights, Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in critical swing states for the 2024 election.

The survey found Trump leading Biden by seven points in swing states.

Trump leads Biden 48-41 among swing state voters.

An Echelon Insights survey found that the former president could flip key battleground states if up against Biden in 2024. https://t.co/bDEbvV8Bqg

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 5, 2023

Newsweek reports:

An Echelon Insights survey of 1,020 likely voters show that 48 percent of those in battleground states said they would definitely or probably vote for the Republican who is the favorite to clinch the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, compared to 41 percent who said they would back Biden.

Biden was able to win the 2020 election after flipping the key swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia. If the Democrat has any hope of getting reelected to the White House next year, he would need to retain at least a majority of battleground states and several other states he won in 2020.

Elsewhere, the Echelon Insights survey shows that Biden would narrowly beat Trump overall in the 2024 election when voters are given a choice of just the president (45 percent) and Trump (44 percent).

The poll also found a potential spoiler for one of the two dominant political parties.

Cornel West picked up three percent in the survey.

Could Third-Party Presidential Candidate Hurt Democrat Nominee?

That spells disaster for Democrats.

Daily Mail noted:

Cornel West, a left-wing academic who has declared his intention to run for the White House, is currently picking up 3 percent, the same survey said, peeling off potential Democrat votes from the current commander-in-chief.

West says he will guarantee good wages and education for all, while ending poverty across America.

Third candidates can be potential spoilers in U.S. presidential elections, such as the Green Party's leader Jill Stein who ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The left has shown their fears of West costing Democrats votes in the race.

From Politico:

No third-party member has ever won the presidency, but both Democrats and Republicans have argued that such candidates have been spoilers in the past. Many Democrats feel that the Green Party’s Jill Stein siphoned votes from Hillary Clinton in 2016, helping usher former President Donald Trump into office. Some Republicans likewise think Ross Perot paved the way for Bill Clinton.

West’s People’s Party only currently has ballot access in Florida, according to the group’s national chair, Nick Brana. But, he added, “We plan on being on all 50 states.” While that’s a tall order, some progressives are privately floating the possibility of West running on the Green Party’s ballot line, too. Brana said there have been no such discussions with the Green Party. But Gloria Mattera and Gregg Jocoy, co-chairs of the Green Party’s media committee, did not rule out the possibility and said that “we have a process and Dr. West is welcome to seek the nomination under the party rules and requirements.”

West has no chance of beating Biden. But the fear in some Democratic circles is that West’s candidacy, and the fondness that he elicits from individuals in Sanders’ orbit, may provide a permission structure for a small percentage of progressives to sour on the president. Sixty-nine percent of liberal voters approve of Biden’s job performance, compared to 21 percent who disapprove, according to a recent poll by Monmouth University. But Biden faces deep skepticism among young voters, a key constituency of Sanders’, with 56 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds giving him a thumbs down and 32 percent a thumbs up.

West announced in June he would pursue the Green Party nomination, which would likely pull votes from the Democrat nominee.

"The Green Party welcomes Dr. Cornel West as a candidate seeking the party's nomination for president. Dr. West is an important voice for social and economic justice in line with our party's platform. We look forward to him participating in the nomination process," the Green Party said.

The Green Party welcomes Dr. Cornel West as a candidate seeking the party's nomination for president. Dr. West is an important voice for social and economic justice in line with our party's platform. We look forward to him participating in the nomination process. @CornelWest

— Green Party US 🌻 (@GreenPartyUS) June 14, 2023