Trump’s Record, Not Biden’s Agenda, Is The Key for Most Voters

Most voters say the upcoming presidential election is about President Trump and rate Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s agenda of secondary importance. Enthusiasm about the election continues to grow following the two major parties’ conventions, especially among Republicans.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 59% of Likely U.S. Voters rate Trump’s record as more important to their vote than Biden’s ideas for the next four years. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say Biden’s ideas are more important. (To see survey question wording, click here.) 

Eighty-four percent (84%) of Republicans and 62% of voters not affiliated with either major party consider the GOP president’s record more important to their vote, but just 34% of Democrats agree. Among voters in the opposing party, 65% put more emphasis on Biden’s ideas for the next four years.

Eighty-five percent (85%) of Republicans are now excited about the choice between Trump and Biden, up from 75% in mid-July. This compares to 71% of Democrats, unchanged from six weeks ago, and 54% of unaffiliated voters.

Among all likely voters, 70% are excited about the Trump-Biden contest, while only 23% now say they will simply be voting for the lesser of two evils. The number excited about the contest is up from 60% in late April and 67% in July.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted August 30-31, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Biden’s lost ground since the close of the Democratic National Convention, and he and Trump are now running neck-and-neck in the latest Rasmussen Reports’ weekly White House Watch survey. This survey will be updated tomorrow at noon Eastern and will be the first White House Watch since the close of the Republican convention.

The older the voter, the more excited they are about the Trump-Biden matchup. Blacks are noticeably less excited about the contest than whites and other minority voters are.

Men put more emphasis on Trump’s record than women do. Middle-aged voters are the most likely to agree.

Trump’s record is more important to 63% of whites, 34% of blacks and 58% of other minorities. Most blacks (62%) put Biden’s agenda first.

Among voters who are excited about a Trump-Biden contest, 65% say the president’s record is more important to their vote than Biden’s ideas. Voters simply choosing between the lesser of two evils are closely divided on the question.

Voters see a more divided America after four years of the Trump presidency but think the country is less divided than it was when Barack Obama stepped down. They’re also more convinced that a Trump defeat in November will make the division even worse.

Most voters don’t expect a presidential winner to be announced on Election Day. Perhaps in part, that’s because the majority of Democrats agrees with Hillary Clinton that Biden should not concede if the race is close.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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