2.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Advertisements

The five Democratic candidates with the most support are looking more like a big three with Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren all leading Trump in a new poll.

The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll found:

Former Vice President Joe Biden leads the president by 9 points among registered voters, 51 percent to 42 percent — outside of the poll’s margin of error of plus-minus 3.5 percentage points.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is ahead of Trump by 7 points, 50 percent to 43 percent.

Advertisements

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., holds a 5-point advantage, 48 percent to 43 percent.

These are the only three Democrats that lead Trump at or outside of the poll’s margin of error. Kamala Harris only trails Trump by a point, but the only three who have leads or are tied with Trump are Biden, Sanders, and Warren.

Joe Biden’s electability argument gets a boost

Former Vice President Biden makes deep cuts into Donald Trump’s base. Trump only leads Biden by 9 points with men (51%-42%). Trump leads Biden by 7 points with white voters (50%-43%). Joe Biden is the only Democratic candidate who beats Trump suburban voters (49%-43%) and Independents (45%-41%). Trump is either tied or leads every other Democratic candidate with these voters.

The advantage that Democrats would gain with Biden as their nominee is that the former VP expands the Democratic map every state outside of the cities and into suburbs. Rural voters are Trump’s strength, so if Democrats are to win the White House, they will need a candidate who can expand the map so that it looks more like the 2018 midterm than the 2016 general election.

Joe Biden said in his book that if he had run in 2016, he would have chosen Elizabeth Warren as his running mate. It is possible that two of the top three polling Democrats will be the Democratic ticket in 2020. Bernie Sanders is going to be strong in Iowa and New Hampshire, so no one should sleep on Sanders, but if Democrats vote on electability, Joe Biden is still in the driver’s seat.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook