(Pakistan Point News - 15th Oct, 2020) By Binsal Abdulkader ABU DHABI, 15th October 2020 (WAM) – As the US Presidential Election is just 19 days away, major national issues and a referendum on the incumbent President Donald Trump are heatedly debated in the campaigns in battleground states that may determine the final results.
Pollsters and analysts have listed over a dozen states as "battleground" or "swing" states, based on demography, past and recent election history, voter registration and other related factors.
Two prominent pollsters said a referendum on the President is a key topic influencing the voters in those crucial states.
"The re-election campaign is almost always a referendum on the incumbent," said Jon McHenry, a Republican pollster.
Margie Omero, a Democratic pollster, said, "When you have any incumbents, it’s usually a referendum on the incumbents. And the fact that the President is such a dominating personality in so many ways, it’s hard for it to be about anything other than him."
They were talking at a virtual briefing from Washington Foreign Press Centre, for journalists participating in a virtual reporting tour of the election process, organised by the US Department of State.
More than 200 journalists have been selected for the eight-week long virtual tour, from media outlets across the globe, including Emirates news Agency, WAM.
The Republican pollster listed 12 battleground states such as those flipped between the parties in 2016: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Iowa, and those that were decided by five points or fewer in 2016: Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Maine, and North Carolina.
"Even states [such as Georgia, Ohio and Texas] that might have been ‘safe’ previously now they count as contested under different criteria," added McHenry, Vice President of the Republican Polling and Strategy Firm in North Star Opinion Research.
The issues that matter in battleground states will be similar to what matters nationally, he said, adding that the current administration will be more focused on what voters would lose under a Biden presidency.
He also noted that the economy, coronavirus and healthcare are major national issues.
Echoing the same opinion about the national issues, the Democratic pollster said, "People are feeling very threatened by healthcare, coronavirus, the economic impact ... There are small businesses going out of business, worrying about their elderly parents and feel kind of personally connected to the coronavirus impact in a very real way."
Then there are others who are thinking about the Supreme Court, as Senate hearing for the vacancy in the court already started, added Margie Omero, who is a Principal at the Democratic Polling Firm, GBAO, with over 20 years of experience, providing strategic advice.
