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Early polls favor Biden but Senate officials skeptical | TheHill

posted onAugust 6, 2018
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Article snippet: MORE is leading the Democratic field in some early polls asking voters about the party’s prospective presidential candidates in 2020. But in his old stomping grounds in the U.S. Senate, there are plenty of skeptics who point to the former vice president’s age, his support for the Iraq War and his two failed presidential bids as reasons to doubt he would be successful. “It’s hard to see someone [winning] who voted for the Iraq war. People are looking to turn the page,” one senior Democratic aide said. A second senior Democratic aide said “polls show that voters want someone who is new.” A Democratic senator who requested anonymity to comment on Biden’s chances said “polls this early don’t mean anything” and argued a Politico/Morning Consult survey published Wednesday that showed Biden leading Trump 44 percent to 37 percent among registered voters doesn’t mean much since it didn’t poll other candidates against Trump. Other Democrats noted Biden’s failed bids for the White House in 2008 and 1988 to argue that he might not be a strong candidate in 2020. A spokesman for Biden declined to comment for this story. Perhaps it’s not surprising to find skeptics of Biden in the Senate even among Democrats, given the number of Democratic senators thinking about running for president. Sens. MORE (D-N.J.) are all seen as likely candidates, and they might not be the only Democratic senators running. Biden also has his supporters, who argue that he’s a strong bet to win back whi... Link to the full article to read more

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