Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a rally in Philadelphia May 18, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
Joe Biden widens his lead over two nearest rivals -- Warren and Sanders.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Two new national polls released Wednesday showed that former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden widened his lead over his nearest rivals Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential race.
The Quinnipiac University poll showed that Biden won support of 32 percent of the respondents, Warren, senator from Massachusetts, gained 19 percent, and Vermont senator Sanders had 15 percent.
The Quinnipiac results were similar to those of the USA Today-Suffolk University survey. The former vice president rose from other candidates with a 32 percent lead, compared with Warren's 14 percent and Sanders' 12 percent.
"The top three candidates appear to have staying power, and we're not seeing much movement from the likes of (California Senator Kamala) Harris and (South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete) Buttigieg despite their short-lived bumps from debate or media appearances," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston.
Biden, Warren and Sanders were the only contenders who garnered double-digit support in both polls.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted with 648 Democratic voters and independent voters who lean Democratic from Aug. 21 to 26, with a margin of error of plus and minus 4.6 percentage points.
The USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters by landline and cell phone from Aug. 20-25, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Furthermore, the Quinnipiac poll showed that President Donald Trump got a 56 - 38 percent disapproval of his job as president, compared with 54 - 40 percent a month ago.
On trade, 38 percent of Quinnipiac respondents approve of Trump's policy, compared with 54 percent who disapprove.
"As trade tensions with China dominate the headlines, confidence in the economy is slipping," said Mary Snow, Quinnipiac University polling analyst. "And roughly 4 in 10 voters blame the president's policies, saying they are hurting the economy, the highest level since Trump took office."
Meanwhile, approval of the president's handling of foreign policy, immigration issues, gun policy as well as race relations all failed to cross the 50 percent threshold, according to the Quinnipiac poll.
