Biden dominates when it comes to electability, but not policy in new poll

Democratic voters still think former Vice President Joe Biden is their best chance to defeat President Trump, but they're not necessarily sure he's the top candidate for what comes after the election, a new poll from The Washington Post and ABC suggests.

Biden maintained a lead over the field at 28 percent, though Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) trailed by 5 points, which falls within the poll's margin of error. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was the only other candidate to hit double digits at 17 percent, while South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was inching closer at 9 percent. It wasn't the best survey for any of the other candidates, none of whom surpassed the 2 percent threshold, including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who did at least find out she had qualified for the December debate stage on Sunday.

So yet another poll supports the notion Biden is the tenuous favorite, and he was far ahead of the pack when voters were considering who would best stand up to Trump in the general election. The former vice president garnered 42 percent on that question, while Sanders and Warren lagged behind at 16 and 17 percent, respectively. At the same time, the three leading candidates were essentially tied when asked which candidate would bring the most change to Washington with Sanders edging both Warren and Biden by a point with 25 percent. All in all, the numbers indicate voters are still grappling with whether they'll vote purely in terms of policy or if "electability" will emerge as the primary factor.

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The Post-ABC poll was conducted by telephone between Oct. 27-30 among a random national sample of U.S. adults. The margin of error was 5.5 percentage points. Read more at The Washington Post.