A new poll released Monday from Gallup showed that the four days of virtual speeches and minimal fanfare produced by the Democratic National Convention did little to shore up support for the party of Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris.
In fact, despite the glowing reviews from corporate media of the DNC and its speakers, the Gallup poll showed that Americans claiming to be Democrats or affiliated with the party dropped by two points since the same poll was conducted in June. Enthusiasm for the Republican Party, however, increased by three points, shrinking the Democratic advantage by a stunning five points as the presidential election draws ever closer.
The new poll follows a trend in national polling that has shown a dramatic narrowing of the gap between the Democrats' nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, after months of numbers reflecting Biden as the clear leader. Rasmussen reported on Monday that recent polling also showed the nation's approval of the president was on the rise, sharing that 51 percent of respondents approved of the job he was doing.
The favorable shifting in polling for the president comes amid months of unrest that has included widespread calls from the far-left to defund and abolish police departments, abolish ICE, and abolish prisons across the country.
Over four days of the Democratic convention, no party representative, currently working in public office or otherwise, even mentioned the widespread violence that has stemmed from Black Lives Matter protests in cities across the nation. As the RNC kicks off on Monday, the president and many other speakers have vowed to condemn the violence, destruction, and criminal activity associated with groups that have shaken several cities every night since the end of May.
Democrats also failed to mention the soaring rates in violent crime and homicides that have been recorded in most urban centers of America. Those crimes have disproportionately affected Black communities, which Democrats claim to care about deeply.
While polling results include a margin of error and can change on a daily basis, the trend shows a waning of enthusiasm for 77-year-old Joe Biden, who has rarely left his own basement while campaigning. The diminished enthusiasm for the Democratic Party also matches the stunningly low excitement for the Biden-Harris campaign ticket.
Both Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Mitt Romney in 2012 drummed up more enthusiasm for their failed presidential bids than Biden and Harris have been able to muster thus far in 2020.
Democrats have also traditionally held a polling lead in party affiliation, according to historic results from Gallup. Even in years that Republicans have claimed victory in the presidential contests, including in 2016, Democrats have claimed more party affiliation than the GOP. In 2000, When George W. claimed victory over Al Gore, Democrat-affiliates held an 11-point advantage over their conservative counterparts.
As the RNC goes forward over the next few days, the president and other party members have promised to speak clearly about issues that polled Americans have said they care the most about. The GOP and the Trump administration released a 49-bullet-point plan for 2020, which included a promise to "return to normal" in 2021.
Trump just released a 49-point list for his 2nd term agenda, which the Republican Party apparently endorsed in lieu of putting together a new platform at the 2020 RNC (The 2016 platform therefore still stands — I deleted my original tweet to make that clear). Here it is. (Thread) https://t.co/s9ZAwrN7Ci
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) August 24, 2020