President Trump pulls closer to Biden

As U.S. President Donald Trump continues to hold political rallies across the country despite the increase of COVID-19 cases, there are signs of change in the political landscape in the U.S. After President Trump’s acceptance speech at the White House, which was cheered by more than 1,500 invited guests, was found to have given him a convention bounce, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is reluctantly returning to campaign trail.

According to a poll conducted on Friday (local time) and announced next day by Morning Consult, Biden led Trump by 6 percentage points, 50 percent to 44 percent. Although Biden was still ahead of Trump, it was a big drop for him compared to a poll conducted on Aug. 23, when there was a 10 percentage point difference between Biden and Trump (52 percent to 42 percent). There was only one percentage point difference between the two in a poll released by the Rasmussen Reports on Wednesday.

According to Real Clear Politics (RCP), polling data aggregator, Biden was ahead of Trump by 10.2 percentage points, 51.1 percent to 40.9 percent, on June 23. But the gap closed to 6.9 percentage points on Saturday. In particular, the gap narrowed to 2.7 percentage points in six swing states.

On the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), President Trump flew to Wisconsin, where the DNC kicked off, and gave a speech there, seeking to divert attention from the DNC. Then he continued his re-election campaign in Minnesota. He aimed to maximize the effect of the Republic National Convention (RNC) held in Charlotte, North Carolina, Fort McHenry, Maryland, and the White House, using the cheers and standing applause from the audience, grand music, glaring lights, and fireworks. Last weekend, he visited Louisiana and Texas that were ravaged by Hurricane Laura and is slated to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday following the police shooting of Black man Jacob Blake that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

It is too early to conclude that Trump is on the rise. For example, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted after the national conventions of both parties, Trump lost 1 percent in candidate preference while Biden gained 5 percent.

But there is growing concern that Biden’s prudence in an election, which is all about moving public sentiment, can be seen as seclusive or having weak presence. The Biden camp said they will return to campaign trail after Labor Day, which falls on next Monday.


lightee@donga.com