THE 41% SOLUTION: 41% Wrecks Dems’ Confidence, Biden Camp’s Narrative.

I’ve been covering American politics for a long time and I can’t remember a number that so dramatically altered the political community’s perception of a presidential campaign as that number did, last night, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

The source of the number was The Iowa Poll, which has been the gold standard for statewide polling in the United States for decades. The number itself was the percentage of likely voters in Iowa supporting Joe Biden’s candidacy for president.

President Trump’s number was 48%, which put him ahead in the “horse race” by 7 percentage points. There was nothing really remarkable about that, in context. Mr. Trump won the state in 2016 by (roughly) nine percentage points.

What was remarkable was Biden’s 41%. What made it doubly disconcerting was the way The Des Moines Register (accurately) described the poll results:

“Republican President Donald Trump has taken over the lead in Iowa as Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden has faded…”

Faded! Could there be a more terrible word in the last week of a presidential campaign?

More at the link, with the usual “don’t get cocky” disclaimer.