Chris Wallace: Trump has no chance at re-election if voters believe he handled coronavirus poorly "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace joined the "Fox News Rundown" podcast Friday to discuss the state of the 2020 presidential race after Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., suspended his campaign and how the coronavirus pandemic will affect the outcome. "I think he moved the party considerably to the left on health issues," Wallace said. "I mean, think of some of the things that even Joe Biden, who's running as the relative centrist or moderate although he's certainly pretty liberal, is endorsing now that were just unacceptable." "He's for a public option, not Medicare-for-all, but a public option," Wallace added. "That wasn't something that Barack Obama supported in 2012. Health care for illegal immigrants, that wasn't something that Barack Obama supported in 2012. Decriminalizing people coming across the border [illegally], same for Obama ... Biden is a lot closer to Bernie Sanders than he is to where Barack Obama was just four years ago." Wallace also predicted that the November election would double as a referendum on President Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying: "If people come to the conclusion, a majority of Americans, that he has handled the health issue and the economic issue poorly, I don't think he has any chance to win." "I'm not sure that Biden's issues and, you know, his record and stuff is gonna be all that important," he added. Wallace also addressed whether Trump can win reelection during a coronavirus-induced recession. "Does he get the full brunt of the blame for something which clearly he had nothing to do with?" Wallace asked aloud. "I think that people will make a judgment. They'll say, 'Did he handle the health crisis properly? Did he handle the economic crisis properly or not?'" "I think there'll be a tougher argument [for Trump] to make [if] people are still suffering," Wallace said. "In the last three weeks, we've had 17 million new Americans claim unemployment, go on unemployment. You know, that's horrible, but politically acceptable in April. Is it acceptable in September and October? Probably not."
Things look good for Dems in The Senate Collins approval rating drops in Maine By John Bowden - 04/13/20 04:35 PM EDT Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) has seen a dip in her approval rating statewide, according to a new poll. The Maine senator continues to be a top target for Democrats in the fall. A survey released Monday by the Bangor Daily News found that just 37 percent of voters in the state approve of the job she has done as senator, compared with 52 percent who said they disapproved. That represents a drop of 5 percentage points for Collins's approval rating since a previous BDN/Critical Insights poll in the fall, when Collins was supported by 42 percent of voters in the state. Her approval rating had hovered around that level for much of 2019, rising only one point between the firm's polls in the spring and fall. Other political figures in the state fared better than Collins in the poll: Gov. Janet Mills (D) saw her approval rating rise from 47 points last fall to 60 points in the latest BDN/Critical Insights poll, while Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) remained popular with the support of 59 percent of voters. Maine residents now overwhelmingly expect the economy to worsen in the months ahead, according to the survey, with 57 percent of voters saying they expect the economy to be in worse shape next year, up from 32 percent in the fall. The BDN/Critical Insights poll surveyed 596 registered voters in Maine. Further polling information was not immediately available, and Critical Insights pollsters did not immediately return a request for comment.
WI not looking good for Trump in 2020 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/13/wisconsin-coronavirus-election-results-lawsuits-184666 Liberal challenger wins Wisconsin court election marred by coronavirus Liberal Wisconsin state Supreme Court challenger Jill Karofsky defeated conservative Justice Daniel Kelly in the biggest battle of Wisconsin's April 7 elections. But the war over voting in Wisconsin and other states isn't even close to ending. Karofsky's victory over Kelly, who was backed by state Republicans and President Donald Trump, comes after Democrats threatened lawsuits over the election, which was marred by last minute chaos, including significant numbers of polling places closed due to coronavirus and disagreement between the Democratic governor and the Republican legislature over whether to postpone the vote.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/492732-biden-opens-9-point-lead-over-trump-in-arizona Biden opens 9-point lead over Trump in Arizona: poll By J. Edward Moreno - 04/14/20 02:17 PM EDT Former Vice President Joe Biden is 9 points ahead of President Trump in Arizona, according to an OH Predictive Insights poll released Tuesday morning. The poll showed Biden leading Trump 52 percent to 43 percent with 5 percent of voters undecided, up from the 6-point lead the former vice president had in March. Though the poll shows positive signs for Biden in the important swing state, the pollsters noted that 78 percent of the former vice president's supporters said they were "extremely enthusiastic" or "very enthusiastic" about the election compared with 88 percent of Trump's supporters. “If Coronavirus is still rampaging through the country in November, campaigns may struggle to turn out voters on Election Day,” says Jacob Joss, data analyst at OHPI. “That task is going to be made even more difficult if a candidate’s supporters are not enthusiastic about voting for them in the first place. While the president faces a significant deficit, in these unprecedented times he is by no means out of this race." The poll was conducted April 7-8 among 600 likely Arizona voters with a reported margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Freedom Caucus co founder thinking of running 3rd party.Obviously that would hurt trump badly. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rep-justin-amash-carefully-considering-presidential-run Rep. Justin Amash ‘carefully’ considering third-party presidential run Rep. Justin Amash is considering a third-party presidential run this year to challenge President Trump and Joe Biden, and will be making a decision shortly, his campaign said Wednesday. The campaign for Amash, the former Republican, put out a statement Wednesday saying the Michigan independent will make a decision "soon." "In mid-February, Justin Amash paused active campaigning for his congressional seat to carefully consider a presidential run," his campaign said. "He has been discussing the potential campaign with his family, his friends, his team, and others, and a decision can be expected soon." AMASH, WHO LEFT GOP IN 2019, AGAIN MULLING 2020 PRESIDENTIAL RUN Since becoming an independent, Amash has been a regular critic of Trump, especially when he believes the president is overstepping his authority. He voted in favor of impeaching Trump and in recent days spoke out against Trump's assertions he has "total" authority to reopen the government. Amash is a libertarian-minded conservative who was an ardent supporter of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, during his 2012 presidential run and backed his son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. during the 2016 primary election. Amash later endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, when Paul's campaign fizzled out and refused to vote for Trump in the general election. No candidate who was not a member of one of the two major parties has won a presidential election in modern American history, and Amash will almost certainly not be the first. Republicans overwhelmingly support the president and Democrats would be unlikely to vote for the congressman who was a member of the right-wing of the GOP before he left the party. But an Amash candidacy would amount to one of the highest-profile third-party runs, given his position as a sitting member of Congress. If he manages to gain even marginal support from Republicans and independents who might otherwise vote for Trump but dislike his tone and leadership style, it could harm the president's chances in swing states that saw a razor-thin margin in 2016. REP. JUSTIN AMASH ANNOUNCES HE IS LEAVING GOP; TRUMP CALLS IT 'GREAT NEWS' Some Democrats still blame third-party candidates Jill Stein, of the Green Party, and Gary Johnson, a libertarian, for Hillary Clinton's downfall in 2016 after multiple swing states were decided by just a few thousand votes. The last third-party candidate to garner significant support for a presidential campaign was Ross Perot, who ran in 1992 and 1996. His best performance was in 1992, when he secured almost 19 percent of the national popular vote.