Between Oct. 15 and 19, just last week, voters were in a particularly foul mood. That’s when the latest Siena College poll was conducted in which nobody got off easy.
President Biden: lowest favorables ever. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: lowest favorables ever. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik: lowest favorables ever.
Steve Greenberg, the pollster for the Siena College Research Institute, told Capital Tonight that one number should be especially concerning to Democrats.
“We asked Democrats, ‘do you want to see Biden be your party’s nominee for president next year, or would you prefer another candidate?’ Only 42% of Democrats say they want Biden to be their nominee,” he said. “Fifty-one percent say they want another candidate.”
Of the Democrats who told Siena they didn’t want Biden to be the nominee, there is no consensus on who should replace him.
“Eleven percent said RFK Jr.; 8% said Kamala Harris; 5% said Pete [Buttigieg]; 4% said Bernie [Sanders]; and 4% said Gavin Newsom. So, they’re all over the board,” Greenberg said.
The poll also asked about public intellectual Cornel West, who received 5% of the vote.
Siena poll takers were out in the field in the days following the surprise Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, but Greenberg doesn't know if that factored into Biden’s languishing poll numbers.
“There’s so much that people bring to this question. Is it because he’s old? Is it because they don’t like his position on this issue or that issue? Is it because of the migrant issue? It’s hard to know,” he said.
The news is only slightly better in New York for former President Donald Trump. When matched up head-to-head, Biden leads Trump 46% to 37%, a decline from last month when he led 52% to Trump’s 31%.