Biden's election argument takes a hit

Joe BidenJoe BidenBiden said afterwards: "I will not lose my mind" The Hill & # 39; s Morning Report – Trump announces the resumption of trade talks between China and China, welcomes possible trade with Japan and the United Kingdom United. Juan Williams: The real story of Trump's attack against me MOREThe job aptitude argument shows more and more signs of weakness.

A national survey of Monmouth University, released Monday, revealed Biden lost 13 points and the Senators tied for three. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenThe morning of Hill's Report – Trump announces the resumption of US-China trade negotiations and announces a potential trade with Japan and the United Kingdom. The memo: the democratic battlefield boils down to a four-horse race. (D-Mass.) And Bernie SandersBernie SandersHill.TV Exclusive: Bernie Sanders Sings Mitch McConnell The Hill & # 39; s Morning Report – Trump announces the resumption of trade talks between China and China, hailing a potential trade with Japan and the United Kingdom. The memo: the democratic battlefield boils down to a four-horse race MORE (I-Vt.).

Democrats say this is the last proof that the former vice president can not hope to win simply by saying he is the best candidate to win President TrumpDonald John TrumpJoe Kennedy thinks he'll be sitting in the Senate, Biden told parliament: "I'm not going to go crazy." Relations between Seoul, Pyongyang and Tokyo, need a shock of reality during a general election.

Voters in the Democratic Party are clearly aiming to nominate a candidate who can win in November, which has long been considered a reason why Biden has a good poll rank – in addition to his well-identified identity.

But other candidates argue that it is not Biden who are the most likely candidates to defeat Trump.

In addition, Democratic strategists believe that Biden must also give voters other reasons to support him.

"It's a slippery slope if the argument on which he bases his candidacy collapses," said Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo, who worked on Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonThe Morning's Morning Report – Trump announces the resumption of trade talks between China and China and welcomes a potential trade with Japan and the United Kingdom. Juan Williams: The true story of Trump's attack on me raises issues for the Virginia legislature.From the 2008 presidential campaign.

"Is this the beginning of the house of cards that is being undone? Maybe, "he said of the Monmouth poll. If that's correct, he said it was "exactly what the Biden campaign does not want to be."

The Monmouth election comes just before Labor Day, when the Democratic campaign season intensifies and candidates enter the heart of the primary election cycle.

"I hope the people of Biden will be smart enough to realize that they can not settle for the eligibility argument, because I'm pretty confident that this does not will not work in the long run, "said Democratic strategist Jim Manley.

"Everyone is going to throw a lot more shots from now, and it will not be easy for Biden to get into electivity alone," he said. "It will become much more difficult."

Although eligibility was the central premise of the campaign, this is not the only argument that Biden has made for his candidacy.

He sought to present himself as a rallyer at a tumultuous time for the country.

"The president has decided to be president of his base. I will be president of every American, "said Biden this weekend at Keene State College in New Hampshire. "People know who Donald Trump is. We must let them know who we are. "

After the survey was released Monday in Monmouth, Biden's staff described the survey as "singular," noting the small size of the sample of respondents (298 people).

Other allies of Mr. Biden pointed out last week that a poll conducted by CNN had shown the former vice president with a two-digit lead. This survey showed Biden with 29%, Sanders and Warren 15% and 14% respectively.

A poll conducted by Quinnipiac University earlier this month also indicated that Biden was the only country at the top of the rankings at 32%, compared with 21% for Warren and 14% for Sanders.

"Voting is a bit of an exaggeration," said a Biden ally about the poll in Monmouth. "All the other polls have led us a lot."

But Democrats say Biden's dependence on "eligibility" is proving to be a fault, especially as Biden continues to make mistakes. This weekend, for example, he claimed to be in Vermont while he was in New Hampshire.

"Biden's campaign gaffes undermined his own eligibility argument," said Brad Bannon, Democratic strategist. "Primary voters see, hear or read about gaffes and wonder if the former vice president can withstand the blows he would get from Trump next year."

"Biden is committing non-forced mistakes, which will happen even more frequently next year if he is nominated and Trump hits him relentlessly," he added.

A recent Fox News poll also showed that other candidates would also beat Trump in a hypothetical confrontation. While Biden would have done better than Trump by 12 points, according to the survey, Sanders would beat him by 9 and Warren by 7. Sen. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisThe memo: the democratic battlefield boils down to a four-horse race The setbacks of cloud foreign policy The Trump 2020 Trump pitch again attacks Fox News: "This was no longer what we were talking about. he was "CONTINUED (D-Calif.) Would also beat him by 6 points.

"While these other candidates are building their name IDs, you see that their numbers match or exceed those of Trump," said Trujillo, adding that Biden "was basing his argument on something that will erode even slowly".

But the Biden team keeps coming back to the theme of the election. Last week, Jill Biden, the former second lady, argued in favor of the Election Factor at a campaign event organized with fellow educators in Manchester, N.H.

"I know you are not all attached to my husband and I respect him, but I want you to think about your candidate, his eligibility and who will win this race," she said. "You know you might prefer another candidate, but you have to figure out who's going to win."

"Joe is that person," she added.

Manley said the Monmouth poll should at the very least serve as a wake-up call for the former vice president's strategy.

"They still have a lot of work to do," he said. "They have a lot more to sell."