All three top Republican candidates would beat President Joe Biden in a hypothetical November matchup, according to a poll released Sunday, in the latest poor showing for the incumbent.
Former president Donald Trump, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, and former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley all beat Biden in the poll from CBS News and YouGov. Haley enjoyed the largest lead of 8 points over Biden, while DeSantis and Trump led by 3 points and 2 points respectively. Only Haley maintained a lead that exceeded the 3.1 percent margin of error for the sample of likely voters.
One reason for Haley's lead, according to CBS, was that she either matched or beat Biden in qualities that voters are looking for in a president. The most important features for likely voters were showing empathy, showing toughness, and being open to compromise. Among voters who want a president to embody those traits, Haley tied Biden in empathy, beat him by 2 points in being open to compromise, and crushed him in showing toughness by a margin of 59 percent to 39 percent.
Forty-nine percent of voters queried in the poll believed that, if Trump were to win, they would be financially better off, compared with 30 percent who said they would be worse off. Were Biden to win, 21 percent said they would be financially better off, and 49 percent said they would be worse off.
Sunday's survey is the latest negative result for Biden, who has seen a slew of recent polls showing him lose to Trump, his presumptive Republican challenger. Last month, a poll showed Biden losing to Trump in seven swing states, and a Michigan poll from last week saw Trump win the Wolverine State in a blowout.