The Washington Post - November 6, 2023

(Excerpts)

• A series of recent polls shows Trump running even or ahead of Biden. His team says they don’t mean much a year before the election.
• Democrats are growing increasingly anxious about the state of President Biden’s reelection campaign, concerned the president and his political team are ignoring warning signs and not taking action to correct course
• Of particular concern to Biden allies are indications that his support among Black voters, who were critical to his victory in 2020, may be softening.
• Young voters in recent polls favored Biden only slightly, with the president winning voters under 30 by one percentage point.

IndieDems Comment:

Biden's team is correct in saying that polls one year ahead of an election do not predict the outcome. But--the recent polls sound a clarion call about the tough fight ahead. IndieDems shares the concern of those Democratic voices saying that the real problem is that Biden and his advisers seem to be ignoring or downplaying the warning signs that a course correction is desperately needed.

Democrats seeking refuge in the argument that polls do not predict the outcome are ignoring the major difference between Trump and all previous presidential candidates: none of the others carried the baggage that Trump does while maintaining the approval ratings that Trump does. No other presidential candidate has shown himself to be a congenital liar; organized a criminal conspiracy to overturn a presidential election; continued to declare the election was stolen, without offering one shred of evidence to back up the charge; made flagrantly racist, xenophobic, and misogynist statements; been indicted on multiple criminal and civil charges; had chief aides and lawyers plead guilty to crimes; and been found guilty himself of a sexual assault--and continued to pose a real chance of defeating an incumbent.

The more Trump is shown to have committed wrongful acts, the higher he has ridden in the polls.

Biden needs to launch a stronger counterattack soon, or risk falling permanently behind the curve.