Ahead of impeachment vote, Trump leads 2020 Dem rivals

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump, the first modern president to face impeachment during his first term in the White House, now leads his top Democratic rivals in his bid for a second, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds.

The national survey, taken as the House of Representatives planned an impeachment vote and the Senate a trial, showed Trump defeating former Vice President Joe Biden by 3 percentage points, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by 5 points, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren by 8 points.

In hypothetical head-to-head contests, Trump also led South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg by 10 points and former New York City Mayor

Michael Bloomberg by 9.

Polls taken nearly a year before an election are hardly a reliable indicator about what the eventual outcome will be, especially when the other nominee hasn’t been chosen. But the findings do indicate that impeachment hearings detailing what critics see as Trump’s violations of the Constitution and his oath of office haven’t undermined his core political support.

The poll of 1,000 registered voters, taken Dec. 1014 by landline and cellphone, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

In the survey:

❚ Trump won among male voters but every Democratic contender carried a majority or plurality of female voters against him.

❚ He bested the Democratic hopefuls among age groups 35 and older, but he lost to each of them among voters 18 to 34 years old.

The president faces no significant primary challenge from former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld or former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois, who have announced campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination. They each received just 2% among Republican voters; Trump was backed by 88%.

Biden continued to lead the Democratic presidential field, at 23%. Also in the top tier of contenders were Sanders at 14%, Warren at 13% and Buttigieg at 8%. Compared with the survey taken in October, Sanders had ticked up 1 point, but the others had dropped a bit – Biden by 3 points, Warren by 4, Buttigieg by 2.

The findings indicate that impeachment hearings haven’t undermined his core political support.