The Good News for Biden in Our Battleground Polls

An enduring group of voters prioritizes abortion over all other issues.

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President Biden at the White House in May.

It’s the weekend! Tonight, we’re looking at a bright spot for Biden in our battleground polls — and, inspired by a certain Supreme Court justice, we want to hear your stories of political spats with your neighbors.

A series of polls of battleground states released this week was full of doom and gloom for President Biden. He is trailing Donald Trump in five key states he won in 2020, with Nevada and Georgia looking all but out of reach.

But follow me deeper into the data, where there is a bright spot for his campaign, and for other Democrats, too: Nearly two years after the fall of Roe v. Wade, an enduring group of voters prioritizes abortion over all other issues.

Eleven percent of the voters in six battleground states — Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan — said that abortion was the most important issue in deciding their vote, in the polls by The New York Times, Siena College and The Philadelphia Inquirer. It’s not a huge share, but it’s roughly the same size as the 12 percent of voters who said they cared most about immigration — and it shows that the issue of abortion is still activating voters in the battlegrounds that will probably decide the presidential election.

Among women alone, the share of voters who prioritize abortion above all else rises to 17 percent. It’s edged out only slightly by the economy, which 19 percent of women chose as the most important issue.

The polls show how, as abortion rights have eroded in this country, the issue has become a key motivator. And the surveys underscore the fact that Trump is out of step with most voters on abortion — although that hasn’t yet translated into as much of an electoral vulnerability for him as one might think.

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