Liberals Freak Out Over New Poll Showing Trump in Dead Heat With Dems in Battleground States

A new poll from The New York Times has commentators and liberals on Twitter sweating the possibility that President Donald Trump will be re-elected in 2020.

The New York Times/Siena College poll shows Trump in a near dead heat in battleground states when matched against the three leading Democratic candidates: Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Pundits expressed disbelief that the 2020 election could turn out much like 2016 – with the Democratic candidate winning the popular vote but losing the electoral college by losing key swing states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan.

NYT/Sienna poll: Trump would lose almost every swing state to Biden, but would sweep Warren and take almost all against Sanders.

This will wake you up this morning…
https://t.co/tclcfssr45 pic.twitter.com/GxymVNSMi2

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) November 4, 2019

How can we explain this?

“Nearly two-thirds of the Trump voters who said they voted for Democratic congressional candidates in 2018 say that they’ll back the president against all three named opponents.”

from the latest Times/Siena battleground poll.https://t.co/D1L2oLup1c

— Ryan D. Enos (@RyanDEnos) November 4, 2019

This is discouraging in so many ways. https://t.co/JHyfrLyjIy

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) November 4, 2019

Reading this, it appears that a combination of a nearly equal dedication to white nationalism on the right and to a fearful and cautious white moderation on the left will lead us directly back to the same outcome we faced in 2016, only with more damaging results this time around.

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) November 4, 2019

this is incredibly bleak https://t.co/uIeG7a5DjW

— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) November 4, 2019

Republicans could win the presidency in 2020 while losing the popular vote for the third time in the past 6 elections.

In 2016 Trump lost the popular vote.

But he won:
Michigan by 10,704 votes
Wisconsin by 22,748 votes
Pennsylvania by 44,292 votes.https://t.co/3Co6VTEPlF

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) November 4, 2019

https://t.co/dwLYEXTwmj via ⁦@nytimes⁩ This poll should be a warning to Democrats. POTUS is still holding his ground in the key battleground states.

— Julian Zelizer (@julianzelizer) November 4, 2019

Two huge takeaways.

1. The realignment of our party system is accelerating and hardening. It’s now non-college educated white voters and evangelicals vs everyone else. That is producing a new electoral college map. https://t.co/kXmQ6HDLiA

— Chris Vance (@Chrisvance123) November 4, 2019

These matchups underscore how voters don’t think about ideology the same way pundits, journalists and wonks do. It seems clear that sexism is a far bigger factor in elections than liberalism vs. progressivism vs. democratic socialism. https://t.co/iBO4MoCDwK

— Aaron Huertas (@aaronhuertas) November 4, 2019

!!!!!https://t.co/PYqHTyN7fy via ⁦@nytimes⁩

— Kim Masters (@kimmasters) November 4, 2019

This solidifies my assessment of 2016. It’s the misogyny stupid. https://t.co/MfzRzP9BCd

— Rick Smith (@RickSmithShow) November 4, 2019

White moderates in America, please talk to White people. Why do so many have to suffer in order for a few to “feel” great? Also let this end the nonsense of “economic anxiety.” At least we can now all talk about the real motivator: racial anxiety. https://t.co/fRtrb9id7w

— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) November 4, 2019

This is the only 2020 information that matters. Stop looking at nationwide polls. And start realizing that Biden, imperfect as he may be, may be our only hope. https://t.co/kpe0SDsbIy

— Scott Feinberg (@ScottFeinberg) November 4, 2019

Btw, if your takeaway from this is “we can’t vote for a woman” and not “we need to work much harder in these battleground states”, you are part of the problem. https://t.co/N5f8S8yILz

— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) November 4, 2019

Well this is terrifying: https://t.co/3YFIAmX79W

— James Downie (@jamescdownie) November 4, 2019

Could every young person who’s mobile and wants to save us pls move to Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee, Philly, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Tampa… https://t.co/gJGnU4rH72

— Eric Klinenberg (@EricKlinenberg) November 4, 2019

Christ: https://t.co/gQJlcmILEU pic.twitter.com/C2EXjK8CaS

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) November 4, 2019

“Yet nonwhite Biden supporters are likelier than white Biden voters to say they would choose Mr. Trump over Ms. Warren.”

Bizarre. Would love to have seen ⁦@Nate_Cohn⁩ drill down a bit more into this particular finding. https://t.co/Ehp0ePEX6V

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) November 4, 2019

Important Reminders:
1. National polls do not matter
2. Despite all the controversies, investigations, attacks, Tweets … It is still pretty much a dead heat between Trump and the top Democrats
3. Trump was elected with a very low approval ratinghttps://t.co/FaydvewLKF

— Shannon Pettypiece (@spettypi) November 4, 2019

There’s a lot of sobering news for Democrats in this new NYT poll of general election battleground states. https://t.co/Cu9WXeO7wa

— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) November 4, 2019