Poll: Most Democrats Want Andrew Cuomo Over Joe Biden

Even as former Vice President Joe Biden becomes the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, many within the party are less than enthusiastic about the idea of pitting him against President Donald Trump. As such, an increasing number of Democrats are looking elsewhere for their candidate and many are turning to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

A new poll conducted by Club For Growth, a Republican-leaning group, found that 56% of Democrats would rather see Cuomo run against Trump while just 44% said they wanted Biden to continue to run.

Interestingly, the poll also found that those who supported Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 largely favored Cuomo, whereas those who voted for Trump tended to prefer Biden as the 2020 candidate.

Buzz around the New York governor has been building in recent weeks as Cuomo has emerged as an alternative national leader to Trump during the coronavirus pandemic. Cuomo’s regular press conferences on the state of the crisis have been getting broadcast nationally like the president’s daily press conferences.

At the same time, Biden has struggled to present himself as a leadership figure during the pandemic. As his campaign scrambled to adapt to accommodate the new realities of social distancing, Biden appeared to have disappeared from the public stage just as the crisis came into full swing. While he has since begun making regular statements from his home, Biden hasn’t been especially successful in garnering the same attention as Trump and Cuomo have.

This was reflected in the new poll, with 54% reporting approval of Cuomo’s handling of the coronavirus crisis but just 32% have said the same of Biden.

Just as troubling for Biden were the findings of another recent poll. It showed that just 36% of Americans believed the former vice president would be handling the pandemic better than Trump.

Despite the murmurings around Cuomo jumping into the race, the New York governor has repeatedly stated that he has no interest in running for president.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced that he would be suspending his campaign Thursday, despite vowing to remain in the running until the Democratic convention. However, citing the change of circumstances due to the current crisis, chose to bow out of the race.