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Poll: Biden has eight-point lead in Pennsylvania

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The Quinnipiac University survey – one of several this week that shows Biden with substantial leads in battleground states – found 52 percent of likely voters supporting Biden, compared with 44 percent for Trump.

And 94 percent have settled on their pick for president, the poll said.

If accurate, that would leave Trump little room to maneuver in the race’s final two months.

The Quinnipiac poll paints a different picture than one released just a day earlier by Monmouth University.

The Monmouth survey depicted a much tighter contest in Pennsylvania, with Biden leading by between 1 and 3 percentage points, depending on the level of voter turnout. That’s essentially a toss-up – and in line with strategists in both parties, who have long said they expect the contest in Pennsylvania to be close.

Other August polls from Muhlenberg College and Change Research have also suggested a closer race in Pennsylvania, while Franklin and Marshall College recently found a Biden lead of 7 percentage points.

Trump, who visited south-west Pennsylvania on Thursday night, won the state by less than one percentage point in 2016, one of three razor-thin battleground-state wins that helped him secure the White House.

Both parties see the state as critical to the 2020 election and have showcased its importance this week: After the president’s visit, his daughter Ivanka is stumping in Chester County on Friday.

Vice President Mike Pence spoke in north-eastern Pennsylvania on Tuesday and the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, stopped in Bucks County on Monday.

Biden delivered a major campaign speech in Pittsburgh on Monday.

The Quinnipiac results are in line with numerous national polls released this week.

The surveys suggest that the national party conventions, and Trump’s increasing focus on crime and civil unrest, have done little to change the overall dynamics of the election since earlier this summer when polls showed Biden leading nationally and in key swing states.

One bright spot for Trump is that voters still favor him on the economy – 52 percent to 45 percent _ and 29 percent say that’s the most important issue in the election, the most of any topic.

An additional 15 percent rated “law and order” as their top concern.

But on a range of other major issues, Biden leads. Among them: handling a crisis (52 percent favor Biden, 44 percent Trump), health care (54 percent to 42 percent), responding to the coronavirus (54 percent to 41 percent), and handling racial inequality (57 percent to 38 percent).

“The economy is key in Pennsylvania and a majority of likely voters approve of the way President Trump is handling it, but it’s overshadowed by Trump’s handling of the coronavirus and his overall job approval.”

Both are registering double-digit deficits,” said Quinnipiac University polling analyst Mary Snow.

Forty-three percent said they approved of the job Trump is doing, while 54 percent disapproved.

The poll surveyed 1,107 likely voters in Pennsylvania from Aug. 28 through Tuesday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.



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