‘The world is upside down and not one of us on this phone call would have predicted that the world will be as it is today. And it is five months from now until November…’
(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said Democrats should not be overly optimistic about Joe Biden’s lead in presidential election polls.
“Some people say, ‘Oh, look at the numbers,'” said Dingell, who called herself “Debbie Downer” while talking about the statistics. “I don’t believe these numbers.”
Biden leads President Donald Trump in the general election polling average by 8.1 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.
He leads Trump by 7.3 percent in Michigan. Trump beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by fewer than 11,00 votes in Michigan’s 2016 presidential contest.
Dingell cautioned Democrats against trusting the polls during a Michigan Women for Biden online event on Monday.
She said there is too much uncertainty about what will happen in the months leading up to the election to be confident about Biden’s victory.
“And look at what’s happened in five months. The world is upside down and not one of us on this phone call would have predicted that the world will be as it is today. And it is five months from now until November.”
Dingell said she offered the same advice to Democrats in 2016, but they did not heed it.
“Four years ago, many of you on this phone call thought that I was nuts,” Dingell said. “I was in enough communities and heard enough people talking that I was very worried about the outcome of that election.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is eyeing Biden’s VP slot, also cautioned Biden’s female supporters from becoming too confident.
“We can do this,” Whitmer said. “And I believe we are going to be successful but we cannot for one second let our guard down. We cannot for one second make an assumption that Michigan is going to go with Joe Biden.”
She said polls that show “double-digit leads” can be dangerous for Biden’s supporters.
“We don’t want people to get complacent or for people to think showing up in Michigan doesn’t matter,” she said. “I know Joe Biden gets it. I know he’ll be here.”