Last Updated on August 20, 2019
A new poll released by CNN shows the Democrat field continues to center around former vice president Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) and Sen. Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren (D-Massachusetts) as other candidates struggle to maintain any level of support.
The newly released poll information shows Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) completely collapsing in the polls. After her breakout moment, in which the California senator spent most of the first debate lambasting former Vice President Joe Biden as a racist for his former opposition to federal busing programs for public schools, she has been completely unable to maintain the spotlight.
Additionally, Harris likely lost further support when Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) called into question her troubled history as a prosecutor in California, in which she kept African American men behind bars for minor drug offenses.
Harris now only has the support of 5 per cent of poll respondents.
Perhaps unsurprisingly. Biden has maintained his position at the top of the field, with 29 per cent of poll respondents saying he is their pick to be the Democrat who will eventually face off against President Donald Trump.
Biden suffered briefly after his rough debate with Harris, falling from an all-time high of 39 per cent in April to 22 per cent in June. He currently polls at 29 per cent, recovering most of the ground he lost.
Sanders finds himself in second place with 15 per cent of respondents in his corner, a level of support he has mostly maintained since announcing his presidential run.
Surprisingly, Warren is snapping at Sanders’ heels in third place with 14 per cent of poll respondents saying she is their choice.
This marks a continued level of support after Warren was widely considered one of the winners of the first Democrat debate. Prior to the first debate, Warren only had the support of 7 per cent of respondents.
After the debate, Warren rose to 15 per cent, and has remained a virtually consistent level of support since June.
Aside from the candidate of choice, Warren is also the candidate the majority of those polled would like to learn more about.
Other candidates with wavering levels of support including Andrew Yang at 6 per cent, Julian Castro at 5 per cent, Amy Klobuchar at 5 per cent, Gabbard at 4 per cent, Tim Ryan at 3 per cent, Kirsten Gillibrand at 3 per cent, Tom Steyer at 2 per cent, Bill de Blasio at 2 per cent, John Delaney at 2 per cent, and Marianne Williamson at 2 per cent.
Fascinatingly, despite reports that Democrats are becoming more ideologically tied to the far left in an attempt to win back the election, the number one issue for those polled is selecting a candidate who can beat President Trump in a general election.
54 per cent of those polled say beating President Trump is their top issue, while only 39 per cent say sharing an ideology with the Democrat candidate matters most.
