Tipsheet

Why Former Obama Adviser Is Dismissing the Recent Survey Causing 'Panic' Among Dems

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  November 07, 2023 9:30 AM

Former Obama adviser Jim Messina dismissed a recent New York Times/Siena College survey showing former President Trump ahead of President Biden in a hypothetical matchup.

Though the survey was causing panic among Democrats, Messina argued it’s too early to carry much weight. 

“First of all, the whole thing about polling this far out is silly,” Messina told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday. 

“And so right now people are comparing Biden to the almighty, not sure who the Republican nominee is going to be,” he continued. “And we haven’t gotten to that binary choice that you talked about earlier. Next year where we’re at that binary choice, that’s going to sway voters [to] start to pay attention. Not this far out.”

In the hypothetical matchup, Trump outperformed Biden in five battleground states: Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia. Another survey from CBS News, meanwhile, put the 45th president ahead of the incumbent, 51 percent to 48 percent. 

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The surveys led Obama senior political adviser David Axelrod to suggest the president drop out. But Messina insisted Biden is in a good position if he remains in the race and said dropping out would hurt the party. 

“I think the data really matters here. And since World War II, if one incumbent president hasn’t run, the other party has won every election except for 1988,” he said. “And the second thing is we’ve already had this election, Trump versus Biden, and Biden won that election and knows how to how to stand up to Trump.”