BOCA RATON, Fla. — A new poll shows nearly 60% of voters expressed "disgust," "sadness," or "fear" when asked about their emotional response to President Joe Biden following last week’s first presidential debate.
The Florida Atlantic University/Mainstreet USA poll released Wednesday shows 43% of voters surveyed felt the same negative emotions about former President Donald Trump. Nearly a quarter of voters said they felt "joy/happiness" toward Trump after the debate, compared to 9% for Biden.
Pollsters contend the 24% of Democratic voters who expressed "sadness" for President Biden could still end up voting for him in November.
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"It seems it did get divided by party lines, [but] this is important to note because I think a lot of people were really put off by what they saw in the debate," said Dr. Luzmarina Garcia, an assistant professor of political science and researcher at the Political Communication Lab at FAU. "This particular poll also goes to point out that a lot of people are not undecided. That has everything to do with the fact that there are visible and well-known candidates."
If the election were to be held now, 46% of likely voters in the FAU/Mainstreet poll said they would support Trump versus 44% for Biden. 6% of voters said they would support another candidate, while 5% said they were undecided.
Dr. Kevin Wagner, a professor of political science and co-director of the Political Communication Lab, said he was most intrigued by the high level of negative emotions across the board.
"We do know negative emotions can lead to participation, but they can also lead to polarization and anger and conflict," Wagner said.
The survey results come less than a week after the presidential debate as calls are growing louder for President Biden to step aside to make way for another Democratic candidate.
On Tuesday, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, became the first House Democrat to publicly support Biden withdrawing from the race.
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In the aftermath of the debate, just 40% of voters said they thought the Democratic party should continue with President Biden as the candidate in the November election. Out of the nearly 1,000 voters polled nationwide, 31% supported replacing Biden with another Democrat, 14% supported Vice President Kamala Harris as a replacement, and 16% voters were not sure.
If President Biden were to suspend his presidential campaign, 25% of Democratic voters would support Vice President Harris and 21% would support former First Lady Michelle Obama at the top of the ticket, according to the poll. California Gov. Gavin Newsom received 17% and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Witmer came in a distant fourth place with 7% support.
Wagner said that while the poll offers insight into how voters feel at this point in time, it might be too early to know the full impact of the debate performance on each of the candidates.
"It may well be the impact of the debate will show up significantly a little bit later. But at least for now, the race is still very tight within our margin of error," Wagner said.
The FAU/Mainstreet poll is based on results from a survey conducted by phone and online from June 29 to 30 among a sample of 961 registered voters with a likely margin of error of +/- 3.2%.
