A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey suggests that Democratic candidate Joe Biden holds a double-digit lead nationally over President Donald Trump.
The poll indicates that about 7 in 10 voters believe the U.S. is on the wrong track and with majorities disapproving of the president’s handling of the coronavirus and race relations.
The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll was conducted July 9 through July 12 with 900 registered voters. More than half of them were contacted by cell phone.
The poll has an overall margin of error of plus-minus 3.3 percentage points.
For November’s 2020 presidential race, the poll shows Biden ahead of Trump by 11 points among registered voters at 51 percent to 40 percent, which is well outside the poll’s margin of error.
Here some of the highlights from the survey.
Wearing a mask in public
In the poll, 74 percent of voters say they always wear a mask when shopping, working or being around others outside the home.
And 57 percent said they are more likely to vote for a congressional candidate who focuses more on controlling the spread of the virus; there was only 25 percent who said they are more likely to vote for a candidate who focuses more on reopening businesses.
Majority believes country headed in wrong direction
The NBC News/WSJ poll shows a that 72 percent of voters think the country is headed on the wrong track. The data shows this a 16-point jump on this question since March.
Just 19 percent think the nation is headed in the right direction. Data shows that this is the lowest mark on this question since July 2016.
Trump's approval
The poll shows that 42 percent of voters approve of President Trump’s overall job performance. And there is 56 percent who disapprove of the president (including 50 percent of all voters who do so strongly).
Only 33 percent approve of his handling of race relations, but 54 percent of voters approved of Trump’s handling of the economy – his highest mark on this question since becoming president.
Ratings for Trump and Biden
Biden’s personal rating in the survey dropped from 37 percent positive and 38 percent negative a month ago, to 34 percent positive and 46 percent negative now.
Trump’s rating stands at 39 percent positive, 54 percent negative.
Also, the Democrats’ lead in congressional preference has declined from 11 points in June’s NBC News/WSJ poll at 51 percent to 40 percent, to 4 points now (47 percent to 43 percent).
Democrats hold slight advantage in intensity
The poll shows that while more respondents say they’re enthusiastic about voting for Trump (23 percent of all voters) than Biden (14 percent), Democratic voters are slightly more interested in November’s election than Republicans.
Overall, 77 percent of voters have a high level of interest in the 2020 election, which is the highest level on the NBC News/WSJ question since October 2012.
By party, 80 percent of Democratic voters express high interest compared to 74 percent for Republicans.
Advantages for each candidate
Biden’s biggest advantages over Trump are with African-American voters (80 percent to 6 percent), Latinos (67 percent to 22 percent), voters ages 18 to 34 (62 percent to 23 percent), women (58 percent to 35 percent) and White voters with college degrees (53 percent to 38 percent).
The president leads among all White voters (49 percent to 42 percent), men (45 percent to 43 percent) and Whites without college degrees (57 percent to 35 percent).
In the combined 11 battleground states – Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – Biden leads Trump by 12 points, 52 percent to 40 percent.
The poll shows that 50 percent said there is no chance at all they would vote for Trump, compared with 37 percent who say the same of Biden.
In a a separate question, 52 percent said they would be “very uncomfortable” voting for Trump, compared with 38 percent who say that of Biden.
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