On Thursday, a CNN panel warned that President Joe Biden’s path to beating former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election is narrowing.
The Cook Political Report on Tuesday shifted its projections of Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada from “toss-up” states to “lean Republican” and New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Nebraska’s second district from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat.”
Jake Tapper and CNN political director David Chalian on “The Lead With Jake Tapper” said Biden’s plan to win the election through Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Nebraska’s second district may be in jeopardy following his disastrous debate performance.
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“They do acknowledge that polling has taken a hit, but they also say that they still see a path to 270 and that path runs through — the best path they say — through Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania,” Tapper said. “I might observe, that’s their only path. Like Arizona, Nevada and Georgia were arguably gone before the debate.”
“We have time to go, but they were already certainly leaning away from Joe Biden. And quite frankly, as you know, Jake, if you sit down with Biden campaign officials prior to the debate, they would say they’re path to 270 is through Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and the second congressional district in Nebraska, Chalian said. And they wanted this early debate because they wanted to wake up the public to this race and to this contrast. The public has been awakened to this contest, I don‘t think in the way that the Biden campaign wanted. But I should just note, since the debate, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin got harder, not easier. So that even though they see that as their only viable path, that means their viable path got less probable.”
Tapper clarified the campaign views winning these states “as their best path” and it’s his opinion that “it’s their only path” currently.
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CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten earlier on Thursday said he thinks that Trump can compete with Biden in reliably Democratic states in addition to the swing-states necessary to win the Electoral College.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some post-debate polling that actually has Joe Biden behind in Virginia,” Enten said. “Who would have ever thought we’d see that? But the fact is when we’re looking at these states, New York, Virginia, Minnesota, New Hampshire. States that Joe Biden easily carried last time around. Now, all of a sudden, the Donald Trump campaign thinks that they can put into play and you know what, based upon this data pre-debate, I believe they absolutely can.”
First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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