This Week in the 904: UNF professor in charge of statewide poll discusses abortion, voter enthusiasm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have both made visits to Florida in the last week, hitting abortion hard.

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According to the latest University of North Florida poll, it’s the top topic for Democrats, and they hope it helps them win in November.

But, Dr. Michael Binder said that while the issue may help Biden with other up-for-grabs states, it won’t help much in Florida.

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Recreational marijuana and abortion access are both on the ballot in Florida in November in addition to the presidential election choice. Many think voter turnout will reach record levels, but Dr. Binder said the Biden Campaign’s visits to Florida to talk about abortion are really targeting voters in states like Georgia and Pennsylvania more than Florida itself.

“I do expect there to be big increases in turnout based on that, and even if there are some small increases in turnout, you have to look at the registration advantage Republicans have in this state. It’s up over a million voters ... and that, you know, is exceptionally difficult to overcome. Democrats couldn’t win statewide when they had advantages in registration ... They’re facing really tough challenges this fall,” Biden explained.

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With the top of the ticket a rematch from 2020, Binder said enthusiasm for November isn’t high enough either.

“Both of these candidates are particularly unpopular and have high unfavorables. Biden is 57% unfavorable and Trump is at 54%. These are big numbers. It’s not surprising that there is not a lot of enthusiasm, maybe a third of the electorate is very enthusiastic. A third is somewhat and another third is not very enthusiastic at all,” Binder said. “Granted, you can understand why since it’s a rematch from 4 years ago. It’s 2 guys who are 80 years old who are generally pretty darn unpopular.

Bachman and Binder also discussed Jacksonville’s role on the Florida campaign trail. To watch the whole interview, watch “This Week in the 904″ on Sunday morning.

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