US presidential election: Biden ahead of Trump in the majority of key states

Hibapress

US President Joe Biden is trailing his predecessor and Republican rival Donald Trump in six of seven key states, as the two candidates prepare for a close duel in the November 5 presidential elections in the United States, according to a new poll published Wednesday.

The survey conducted by Bloomberg News and the Morning Consult agency attributes the decline in the Democratic candidate’s popularity to a feeling of pessimism among voters regarding the prospects of the world’s largest economy.

The majority of respondents expect the economy to deteriorate by the end of the year, according to this opinion survey carried out online between April 8 and 15.

The poll reveals that the tenant of the White House is in the lead in only one of the seven pivotal states where, to a large extent, the presidential election is being played out. This is Michigan where Biden has a slight lead of 2%.

The head of the American executive is slightly behind in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, while the gap which separates him from his rival in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina is greater.

“These results are largely a return to the previous state of the presidential race, before a strong State of the Union address appeared to propel Biden in March to his best performance in the monthly poll” , indicates Bloomberg in an analysis of the results.

The health of the economy remains a major concern for American voters in the context of persistent inflation and its impact on purchasing power.

On Tuesday, US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that the latest inflation data has raised uncertainties about the timing of an interest rate cut later this year. Interest rates are at their highest level in 23 years in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%.

The majority of voters in key states expect economic conditions to deteriorate in the coming months. One in five voters say they expect inflation and borrowing costs to fall by the end of the year. Despite the resilience of the job market, only 23% of respondents said the employment rate would improve over the same period, says the American agency.

For undecided voters, who President Biden is counting on to narrow the gap with Trump, the share of those who expect these economic factors to improve remains low, according to the poll. More than three-quarters of those surveyed blame the Biden administration for the current performance of the US economy.

The poll was carried out among 4,969 registered voters in seven key states with a margin of error of 1%.