President Joe Biden is closing the gap against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in six of seven key swing states, including by significant numbers in at least two, after several months where the former president had held the lead, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll released Tuesday.
Trump still came out on top when the seven states were combined, by 47% to 43%, reports Bloomberg News.
Further, with third-party candidates included, Trump still topped the list, coming at 43% to Biden's 38%. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was expected to announce his choice for running mate Tuesday, netted 9%, and candidates Cornell West and Jill Stein brought in 1% each.
The largest climbs were in Wisconsin, where Biden came out ahead of Trump by one point after being behind by four points in February, and in Pennsylvania, where the candidates were tied after Trump was holding a six-point lead.
The poll was conducted from March 8-15 of 4,932 registered voters in the swing states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and North Carolina, and carried an overall margin of error of 1 percentage point, with varying numbers in the states.
Biden was the most competitive in so-called "blue wall" states, but he also gained back some of his deficit points in Nevada, Arizona, and North Carolina, while adding to his lead in Georgia, the survey showed.
Meanwhile, more than one-third of the voters said they have seen positive news about Biden coming after his State of the Union speech that may have allayed some of the party's concerns about his age.
And where age is concerned, about six in 10 voters said the candidates' running mates will be more important this year, as Biden will be 81 and Trump will be 78 on election day.
The new numbers marked a seven-point drop from the February poll, which was conducted after special counsel Robert Hur's report referring to Biden as being elderly and having a "poor memory."
About six in 10 voters said that vice presidential running mates will be more important this year, a seven-point drop from the February poll, fielded shortly after a special counsel's report called Biden an "elderly man with a poor memory."
There was also a gap when voters were asked if their support for either candidate was out of protest against the other opponent.
Fewer than three of 10 Trump supporters said they were voting for him to vote against Biden, but almost half of the Biden voters said they were picking him so they could vote against Trump.
The voters polled also said they trust Trump over Biden on the economy and on a wide range of monetary issues, including interest rates and the availability of good jobs.
The poll further showed that swing-state voters are feeling more optimistic about the economy, with those saying the economy is on the right track increasing by 6 points from 26% in October to 32% now.
The number of people saying that the economy is the single most important matter dropped from 39% to 34%, but the number of people citing immigration as the top issue doubled to 17%.