BOSTON (State House News Service) – More than two-thirds of Massachusetts residents think political tensions in America are either very bad or a crisis, and nearly half are disappointed that Joe Biden and Donald Trump are their likely choices in this fall’s presidential election, according to a new poll.
A poll of 1,002 residents (86 percent of whom said they’re registered voters) conducted late last month by the MassINC Polling Group found that 39 percent of Bay Staters think the political climate is “very bad” and another 33 percent think it’s “a crisis.” Twenty-one percent said tensions around politics are “somewhat bad,” the poll conducted for GBH and CommonWealth Beacon said.
When given multiple options to express how they feel about the prospect of a Biden-Trump rematch this fall, 48 percent said they’re disappointed, 31 percent are annoyed, 23 percent are angry, 19 percent said they’re interested and 17 percent said they feel motivated. Regardless of how they feel about it, the poll found that almost half of Bay Staters are poised to back Biden for reelection.
Biden was the initial preference of 44 percent of respondents, and 46 percent when including those leaning towards him. Trump was the pick for 26 percent of those polled (28 percent with leaners), and independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. was the choice of 7 percent of respondents (9 percent with leaners).
And more than half of the Bay Staters polled late last month said they would vote in November to give Auditor Diana DiZoglio explicit authority to audit the Legislature — 53 percent said they would vote yes if the ballot question were put to a vote today, 12 percent said they would vote no and 35 percent said they’re unsure or refused to answer.
