Iowa Caucus Polls 2020: 62% Of Democrats Vote For Who Can Beat Trump

KEY POINTS

Electability was the number one criteria among Iowa Democrats in their choice for a presidential candidate
Democrats voted in their Iowa caucus Monday
Polls indicate Joe Biden will win Iowa, since he's perceived as the most electable

Among Democrat voters at the Iowa caucus Monday, the choice of presidential nominee all came down to electability.

A pre-caucus poll among Iowa Democrats by the National Election Pool (NEP), a consortium of news organizations, reveals that 62 percent of caucus-goers are simply looking for a winner -- or someone that can beat president Donald Trump -- instead of someone who agrees with them on the issues.

On the other hand, the poll involving 1,512 Iowa Democrats shows 36 percent saying they want a nominee that agrees with them on major issues.

If electability be the key to victory on November 3, then Iowa's Democrats likely selected former vice-president Joe Biden as their candidate for president in the caucus on Monday, and whose votes were still being counted as of press time.

Many previous polls have shown a lingering perception among Dems that Biden can beat Trump. Other Democrats assert only Biden can defeat Trump.

One of the last polls to bear out this perception was released only last week. A new poll produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates shows American voters still believe Biden remains the candidate with the best chance of wresting the presidency from Trump. Biden's electability score stands at 38 percent among the electorate. Eighteen percent of Americans select progressive candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, as the best to beat Trump while 10 percent believe this person to be Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Biden does best in vote preference among likely voters, or those that say they’re registered and certain to vote in their state’s primary or caucuses. His candidacy for the nomination is supported by 34 percent of this group. This compares to Sanders' 22 percent and Warren's 14 percent.

Democrats also see Biden as the candidate best able to motivate the Democratic base against Trump. He topped this category with 32 percent of respondents versus 21 percent for Sanders and 11 percent for Warren.

Biden is also seen as the best able to attract independent and moderate voters. Twenty-nine percent of Democrats held this opinion as against 17 percent for Sanders and eight percent for Warren. Political pundits said this strength might be influenced by Biden’s high standing among moderates.