President Joe Biden hoped that a strong debate showing against Donald Trump would reset his struggling campaign, but a new poll shows that he is going in the wrong direction thanks to a disastrous performance and a subsequent news cycle that baked in the image of a tired, mumbling old man.
Provided exclusively to Salon, the latest survey by Democratic pollsters BSG found that it doesn't matter where voters get their news: more than 7 in 10 of those polled said they heard Trump won the debate. And while respondents choose Trump over Biden by a mere 46% to 45% if the election were held immediately, overall, Trump rockets to a 51% to 46% lead among those who said they watched the full debate, rather than just clips, with Biden enjoying a 3% lead only among those didn't tune in, which is within the poll's 4.3% margin of error.
