A nationwide Zogby Poll® of 1,016 likely voters in the U.S., conducted 8/6/18 to 8/8/18 with a margin of error of +/-3.1%, shows voters would rather have a beer with former president Barack Obama, the former Vice President Joe Biden, and Senator Bernie Sanders rather than President Trump. Not everyone is averse to the idea of drinking a "cold one" with President Trump, but really important voting blocs are not up to the task.
Most likely voters preferred whoever was pitted against the president, when we asked voters "who they would rather have beer with". The question is an interesting way to understand who voters would lean toward in a close election, and understanding a candidate's likeability.
President Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, is the most popular choice pitted against Trump. He is also the only name tested that receives a majority of voters' support; He leads Trump 54% to 40%, while 6% are not sure who they would drink a beer with. This isn't too surprising since Obama was fairly popular during his presidency, and extremely liked by his democratic base. His popularity will most likely grow in the next few years, due to his involvement with Netflix, foundations, and being an elder leader in the Democratic Party.
Among the swing voting blocs, who will also play a pivotal role in the 2018 mid-term election, former President Obama bests Trump among Millennials age 18-29 (Obama leads 70% to 23%), Generation Z voters age 18-24 (Obama leads 72% to 20%), independents (Obama leads 55% to 34%), women (Obama leads 59% to 33%) and weekly Walmart shoppers (Obama leads 51% to 44%).
Obama is also more popular with small city voters (Obama leads 56% to 36%) and does well enough with suburban voters (Obama leads 48% to 46%). Both of these demographics are important to Trump and republicans.
The former Vice President and potential 2020 democratic nominee, Joe Biden, is also more popular than Trump if people are posed with the question: "Who would you rather have a beer with"? Biden receives half of voters' support, while Trump receives 41%, and 10% are not sure who they would have a beer with.
As was the case with Obama, when Joe Biden is pitted against Trump, the president does better with men (Trump leads 49% to 44%), while Biden dominates among women voters (Biden leads 55% to 33%).
Many younger voters age 18-24 (Biden leads 64% to 28%), age 18-29 (Biden leads 59% to 28%), and independents (Biden leads 49% to 35%) prefer to drink with Biden, as opposed to Trump. He is also popular with some of the president's base, such as, voters with no college degree (Biden leads 48% to 41%), weekly Walmart shoppers (Trump leads 46% to 44%) and suburban voters. (Biden leads 46% to 44%).
Senator Sanders (I-VT) receives just under half of voters' support from voters, while the president receives 40%, and 11% are not sure. The demographics tell a different story. Sanders does better than Trump with younger voters age 18-24(Sanders leads 65% to 24%), and age 18-29 (Sanders leads 64% to 24%), while Sanders also ties Biden with independent voters (Sanders Trump leads 49% to 35%). The senator from Vermont also scores well with women voters (Sanders leads Trump 55% to 32%).
Bernie Sanders does well with some of the president's base like weekly Walmart shoppers (Sanders leads 46% to 44%), but does not do well with NASCAR fans (Trump leads 56% to 38%). Where Sanders hurts the president is with suburban (Sanders leads 46% to 45%) and rural voters (Trump leads 49% to 41%). Although the president leads with rural voters, he does not dominate among this group like he normally does.