NORFOLK, Va. — A poll from Old Dominion University's Social Science Research Center suggests people in Hampton Roads don't think well of President Donald Trump.
'Trump is not very popular in this survey in the Hampton Roads area, so this does not bode particularly well for Trump's prospects of winning Virginia," said ODU Political Science Professor Jesse Richman.
The school's online "Life in Hampton Roads" survey polled 1,105 people who live here between June 26 and July 13.
Respondents were asked: "Do you approve or disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as president?" A little more than one-third (34.1%) approved, with 13.9% strongly approving. Nearly two-thirds (65.9%) disapproved, with 43.8% disapproving strongly.
When it came to the question asking for whom they'd vote if the election were held today, excluding those who said they would not vote, 51.5% indicated that they would vote for Joe Biden, while 27.5% said that they would vote for the president. Another 21% of respondents indicated that they would support a different candidate, were unsure about who they would support, or preferred not to say.
Richman said the bad COVID-19 death numbers did not help the president.
"Very substantial portion of the respondents do not think that Trump did a good job so far responding to COVID-19, and that's dragging on Trump's overall approval, surely," he said.
With the election more than 11 weeks away (as of August 14) -- an eternity in politics -- much can change.
And, of course, polls aren't perfect.
Four years ago the Trump trailed Hillary Clinton in most polls. He, of course, ended up winning.
"Polls are a useful guide but one should not lean too heavily against them," said Richman. "They provide a sense, a snapshot of where the people who responded are at, were thinking, and are an estimate of where the electorate as a whole is, but, they can be wrong to some extent."