The latest survey by St. Pete Polls of Democratic voters in Florida shows former Vice President Joe Biden with a commanding lead in the upcoming Sunshine State primary. Democratic voters in Florida support Biden by 61 percent while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders garnered 12 percent support. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren only received 5 percent support. Mike Bloomberg was still in the field of active candidates when the poll was conducted and he received 14 percent support from likely voters. Florida’s Democratic primary will be held in less than 2 weeks on March 17. There will be 248 delegates up for grabs.
Former Vice President Joe Biden (image via Instagram) A new poll by Clemson University released today shows former Vice President Joe Biden has an 18-point lead over his Democratic presidential primary opponents in South Carolina. The survey showed Biden has 35 percent support in the Palmetto State just days ahead of the ‘First in the South’ primary on Saturday. Businessman Tom Steyer, who’s been highly focused on South Carolina, placed a distant second in the poll with 17 percent support. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the current delegate leader among the Democrats, trails Steyer in the poll by 4 points. Results from the Clemson University Palmetto Poll: Biden: 35% Steyer: 17% Sanders: 13% Buttigieg: 8% Warren: 8% Klobuchar: 4% Gabbard: 2%
Follow woofy Wes Dupee on Instagram here Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Gymbear Wes Dupee gets his food prep on (above). Readers – how many of you have a weekly food prep schedule? Do you get tired of the same food, or is it the convenience you like? • IOM Today: A gay man was beaten in a late-night encounter when an older man mistakenly thought he was flirting with him. The victim says he feels lucky he didn’t lose any teeth. • Netflix: The streaming giant’s latest queer comedy series, Feel Good, stars Mae Martin as herself, a Canadian comedian living in London, navigating a relationship with her new girlfriend, George and dealing with sobriety. Did I mention the awesome Lisa Kudrow plays Martin’s mother? #squeee! The six-episode first season of the dark comedy drops March 19 on Netflix.
• Media Matters: Rush Limbaugh told his listeners on Monday that Donald Trump personally told him to ‘never apologize’ for Rushbo’s anti-gay remarks about White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg. Last week, Limbaugh suggested Trump could have “fun” with Buttigieg kissing his husband on stage. He also wondered aloud how to explain Buttigieg kissing his husband to their children. • OUT: ‘Over-aggressive anti-spam settings’ temporarily prevented some users from logging into their accounts on the bear-centric dating app Growlr causing users to believe they had been suspended. #DontPokeTheBears • NBC News: Sen. Bernie Sanders has jumped out to a 12-point lead in the Democratic presidential contest after his victory in New Hampshire’s primary and his second-place finish in Iowa while former Vice President Joe Biden has seen his support drop by 11 points since his disappointing finishes in both contests, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday. The survey also shows former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg gaining ground in the Democratic race in the past month. (graphic via NBC News)
L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg CNN’s final tracking poll for the upcoming New Hampshire Democratic primary tomorrow shows Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) holding steady with a solid lead. Conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, the results show Sanders with 29 percent support, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 22 percent support, former Vice President Joe Biden ranks a fairly distant 3rd place with 11 percent, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) with 10 percent. Those results mirror the RealClearPolitics average of polls showing Sanders with 29 percent and Mayor Pete at 22 percent with the rest of the pack fairly far behind. It’s worth noting that in 2016, Sanders beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary by nearly 22 points. I’m not thinking Sanders win this time will be quite so large. While nearly half say they haven’t fully made up their minds, when asked who voters in New Hampshire believe will win the primary, 59 percent said Sanders versus only 10 percent naming Buttigieg.
Donald Trump (image via public domain/White House) A new survey of 37,000 adults from 33 countries by Pew Research found 64 percent of respondents lack confidence in Donald Trump to do the right thing on the global stage. Only 29 percent said they had confidence in him. In nearly all nations where trends are available, Trump receives lower ratings than his predecessor, Barack Obama. That said, 54 percent reported having a favorable view of the United States as a whole. From Pew Research: “Across the 33 countries surveyed a median of 54% express a favorable opinion of the United States, while 38% have an unfavorable one. Favorable opinion of the U.S. declined dramatically when Trump took office and remains significantly lower than during the Obama era.” Trump’s strongest support came from the Philippines, India, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria and Poland indicating support at 77 percent, 56 percent, 71 percent, 65 percent, 58 percent and 51 percent, respectively. By contrast, only 8% of Mexicans said they were confident in Trump’s ability to handle world affairs.
% who have confidence in Trump to do the right thing regarding world affairs
Philippines 77% Israel 71% S Korea 46% Japan 36% Australia 35% UK 32% Italy 32% Canada 28% Brazil 28% Russia 20% France 20% Turkey 11% Mexico 8% (feels high)
Former Vice President Joe Biden leads the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls by double digits a month ahead of the Iowa caucuses, according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill.
The poll shows Biden registering 30 percent support among Democrats nationally. In a relatively distant second place is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who notched 17 percent in the survey.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is lingering in the No. 3 spot with 12 percent support. No other candidate registered double-digit support. Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg came in fourth place at 7 percent, while former tech executive Andrew Yang notched 3 percent support.
Still, recent polls in early primary and caucus states show a more fluid race.
An Emerson College survey of likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers released last month showed Biden and Sanders in a statistical tie for first place, with 23 percent and 22 percent support, respectively.
And a WBUR-MassINC poll of New Hampshire Democrats from December showed Buttigieg and Biden knotted at the top with 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively. Sanders wasn’t far behind in that survey, with 15 percent support.
And here’s some eye-popping news – former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has tied Warren for third place in the latest Hill/HarrisX poll:
The former New York City mayor is now in a dead heat for third place with top-tier candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who also received 11 percent support. Biden, meanwhile, continues to lead the Democratic field with 28 percent followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 16 percent.
From Newsweek: A Fox News poll released Sunday morning found a majority of Americans, 54 percent, said President Donald Trump should be impeached, a vote the House is likely to pass this coming week. The latest Fox News poll conducted last week found a majority of U.S. adults of all political affiliations say Trump abused his power in office, with 50 percent of Americans saying he should be impeached and removed as president. An additional 4 percent say he should be impeached but not removed from office. Those surveyed rejected the claim touted by Trump and Republicans that U.S. presidents typically ask foreign governments for help in investigating political rivals, with only 22 percent of respondents saying that defense checks out. A similar majority, 52 percent, said the Trump administration has not cooperated enough with the House impeachment inquiry.
L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Pete Buttigieg A new poll conducted by YouGov/Out Magazine shows LGBTQ voters are definitely leaning towards a particular Democratic presidential candidate and it’s Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. I’ll say upfront any polling should be taken with a grain of salt, but this does provide a glimpse into what some folks may be thinking at this time. Announced as a ‘first of its kind’ survey of likely Democratic primary voters who identify as LGBTQ, the results show Warren easily outpaces her fellow Democrats garnering 31 percent of those polled. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) came in second with 18 percent, former Vice President Joe Biden pulled in 16 percent, and out South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg received 14 percent support. Everyone else in the field scored in the single-digit range. 31% – Elizabeth Warren 18% – Bernie Sanders 16% – Joe Biden 14% – Pete Buttigieg 6% – Kamala Harris 3% – Cory Booker 2% – Julián Castro 2% – Amy Klobuchar2% – Andrew Yang 1% – Tulsi Gabbard 1% – Marianne Williamson All other candidates scored zero support. The data-crunchers at YouGov surmise Warren resonates so strongly with LGBTQ voters because LGBTQ voters tend to be more liberal than the average Democratic primary voter. According to Alissa Stollwerk, Vice President of YouGov Blue, “Seventy-seven percent of LGBTQ+ Democratic primary voters identified in our survey as very or somewhat liberal, approximately 20 percentage points higher than the percentage of Democratic primary voters overall who identify as very or somewhat liberal in our surveys.” For instance, respondents said they overwhelmingly prefer bold structural reforms (68%) versus incremental changes in policy (28%). Asked who could beat Donald Trump in the general election, 53 percent said Warren could win, 52 percent said Biden would trump Trump, 46 percent indicated Sanders could come out on top, 29 percent gave the nod to Buttigieg, and 26 percent said Harris could beat Trump. More from the survey: • 93% disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president; 89% strongly disapprove • 89% say Trump should be impeached and removed from office • 73% say the epidemic of violence against transgender women of color is the most critical issue facing the LGBTQ Community today; 60% said complete nondiscrimination protections; 59% indicated LGBTQ youth homelessness In a statement to Out, Stollwerk notes that such polling “is a snapshot of a group of people at a given time” and should be viewed as such. But the results do offer insight into “the viewpoints of these Democratic voters, what issues are important to them, and what they want to see in the next Democratic nominee for president. (source)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (image via Instagram) As the Democratic presidential candidates take to the debate stage tonight, expect Mayor Pete Buttigieg to take some incoming fire after recent polls show him surging in two early voting states. Buttigieg is the first openly gay presidential candidate to take the lead in both Iowa and New Hampshire. The latest polling from Monmouth University for the upcoming Iowa caucus’ was first to show out Mayor Pete in the top spot. That poll showed the South Bend mayor ahead of former Vice President Joe Biden by 3 points and Sen. Elizabeth Warren for 4 points. Here are the results – the numbers in parenthesis represent standing when combining first and second place results: • Mayor Pete Buttigieg 22% (37) • Former Vice President Joe Biden 19% (29) • Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) 18% (35) • Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) 13% (25) • Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) 5% (14) • Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) 3% (9) • Billionaire Tom Steyer 3% (6) • Entrepreneur Andrew Yang 3% (4) The latest Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll shows Mayor Pete Buttigieg has jumped 16 points since the Register’s last poll to land at the top of the Democratic presidential field. • Mayor Pete Buttigieg 25% • Sen. Elizabeth Warren 16% • Former Vice President Joe Biden 15% • Sen. Bernie Sanders 15% • Sen. Amy Klobuchar 6% And in New Hampshire, the Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll released last night shows Buttigieg opening up a ten point lead over his competitors with 25 percent support. Biden and Warren tied in second place with 15 percent, and Sanders drops to 9 percent support. Despite all that good news for Buttigieg and his campaign team, there have been some not-so-great bumps in the road. For one, video from a 2010 ‘Meet the Candidates Night’ during his attempt to become Indiana state treasurer has re-emerged on Twitter. The event was hosted by two Republican groups with connections to the Tea Party. In the video, Buttigieg says in his opening remarks: “There are some, especially in my party, who think that the Tea Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican Party. But there are many others who believe that the Tea Party is motivated by real concerns about the direction of our government and the responsiveness of our government to citizens. and above all, a frustration with business as usual. That is what motivated me to run.” He also notes, “We may come from often very different perspectives.” Some progressive Twitter warriors have called the remarks “disqualifying.” But there’s some backstory to this appearance. It seems Buttigieg’s opponent wouldn’t debate him, so Pete went to the ‘Meet the Candidates’ event as his only chance to share a stage with his opponent. And if you watch the video clip, he doesn’t say he embraces the Tea Party. He makes a point to say he “comes from a very different perspective” while admitting people from both parties share frustrations about government being run as “business as usual.” In fact, President Obama said something very similar just a short time later when he addressed an MTV/BET Town Hall. “I think there are a lot of people who are involved in the Tea Party who have very real and sincere concerns about spending that’s out of control or generally philosophically believe that the government should be less involved in certain aspects of American life rather than more involved,” said Obama. “And they have every right and obligation as citizens to be involved and engaged in this process.” The mayor’s campaign was also criticized for using a stock photo of Kenyan woman in materials released with his plan to address U.S. racism, “The Douglass Plan.” In any case, you can certainly expect one of the mayor’s opponents to bring up some of these nuggets tonight during the Democratic debate tonight hosted by MSNBC and the Washington Post. The two-hour debate is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (image via campaign Instagram) Ok, the other poll wasn’t an anomaly. The latest Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll shows Mayor Pete Buttigieg has jumped 16 points since the Register’s last poll to land at the top of the Democratic presidential field. • Mayor Pete Buttigieg 25% • Sen. Elizabeth Warren 16% • Former Vice President Joe Biden 15% • Sen. Bernie Sanders 15% • Sen. Amy Klobuchar 6% From the Des Moines Register:
Since September, Buttigieg has risen 16 percentage points among Iowa’s likely Democratic caucusgoers, with 25% now saying he is their first choice for president.
For the first time in the Register’s Iowa Poll, he bests rivals Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who are now clustered in competition for second place and about 10 percentage points behind the South Bend, Indiana, mayor.
Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, led the September Iowa Poll, when 22% said she was their first choice. In this poll, her support slips to 16%.
Former Vice President Biden, who led the Register’s first three Iowa Polls of the 2020 caucus cycle, has continued to slide, falling 5 percentage points to 15%.
Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, also garners 15% — a 4 percentage point rise.
Those four candidates began to pull away from the crowded field of Democrats and separate into a top tier of contenders in June’s Iowa Poll.
The latest survey by St. Pete Polls of Democratic voters in Florida shows former Vice President Joe Biden with a commanding lead in the upcoming Sunshine State primary. Democratic voters in Florida support Biden by 61 percent while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders garnered 12 percent support. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren only received 5 percent support. Mike Bloomberg was still in the field of active candidates when the poll was conducted and he received 14 percent support from likely voters. Florida’s Democratic primary will be held in less than 2 weeks on March 17. There will be 248 delegates up for grabs.
