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Biden’s disastrous debate performance likely helped President Trump’s chances of victory, according to Tuesday’s release of The Cook Political Report.
The report, which analyzed Electoral College ratings, showed a shift from “toss-up” to “lean Republican” in Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada. Additionally, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District also moved toward the 45th president, shifting from “likely” Democrat to “lean Democrat.”
David Wasserman, a political analyst and editor for The Cook Political Report, shared his thoughts about the report in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“The notion that the presidential is a Toss Up was a stretch even before the debate. Today, Trump has a clear advantage over Biden and a much more plausible path to 270 electoral votes,” wrote Wasserman.
Wasserman’s colleague, Cook Political Report Editor-in-Chief Amy Walter, revealed that “insiders” said a large number of Democrats would be calling for Biden to step down by Monday, but noted that only a few have spoken up as of Tuesday.
However, Walter wrote that Biden’s “worsening poll numbers and an aggressively antagonistic press corps” gave some Democrats and their donors hope that he would “see the writing on the wall and gracefully announce his exit from the contest.”
President Trump leads by 3 percentage points in Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, according to the report. He also leads Biden by 0.7 percentage points in Pennsylvania. Biden’s lead over Trump in Wisconsin and Michigan is less than one percentage point, per the report.
Walter said the electorate’s narrow margin means that even a two-point shift could significantly affect the outcome. She pointed out that states “Biden carried by eight points or less would be competitive” if Trump wound up with a three-point edge over Biden in the national popular vote.
