A new poll shows President Joe Biden tied with Donald Trump, while most other potential Democratic replacement candidates trail the former president.
Michelle Obama – writer, lawyer and wife of former President Barack Obama – has a double-digit lead over Trump, 50%-39%, according to the American newspaper. Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The new poll also shows that 56% of voters, including a third of Democrats, want Biden to drop out of the race amid growing concerns about his age and cognitive health, which were exacerbated by the shaky performance of previous week during his debate with Trump.
The poll shows that 46% of voters, including 19% of Republicans, want Trump to drop out.
The two are tied at 40% each in the new poll, with Vice President Kamala Harris trailing Trump by 1 percentage point, 43%-42%, well within the poll’s 3.5 percentage point margin of error .
Trump leads California Governor Gavin Newsom by 3 percentage points, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear by 4, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer by 5 and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker by 6 percentage points, although they also suffer from lower name recognition.
Michelle Obama doesn’t have that problem. She is also the only candidate in the poll who remains above water on another important issue: 55% have a favorable opinion of Obama, compared to 42% an unfavorable opinion.
Obama wasn’t particularly keen on the idea of running for president.
“I have never shown any interest in politics. Ever,” she told Oprah Winfrey last year. “I mean, I agreed to support my husband. He wanted to do it, and he was great at it. But I’ve never said, “I think I want to run.” Ever. So I wonder: does what I want have anything to do with it? Does who I choose to be have anything to do with it?”
She said running for office must be in your soul.
“It’s not in my soul,” she said. “Service is in my soul.”
However, she has also said she is “terrified” about the possible outcome of this year’s election, now that Trump is back on the ballot.