Michigan focus group not impressed with Biden

Monica Showalter:

It's gotta be tough to be center-left media outlet Axios.

They pay a ton of money to do focus group work on swing state voters ... and the voters don't tell them the story they had probably hoped to hear. Witness this:

Some swing voters in Warren, Mich., question Joe Biden's ability to lead the country — calling him a "puppet" who's not "mentally capable of being president" — while admitting they haven't paid much attention to his events, platforms or speeches.

They've got it down as 'some' from their focus group of voters who had voted for President Obama in 2012 and then went for Trump in 2016, which, to be fair, is accurate enough.

But it doesn't tell the whole story. Actually, that 'some' looks like quite a lot -- only two of the nine voters in the swing-state focus group actually plan to vote for Biden. The other seven, well, Axios doesn't say, but they're probably either undecided or more likely (given the Axios reticence) voting again for Trump.

In a story from last month, Axios found that nine out of 10 Trump voters intend to stick with Trump.

Meanwhile, back in Michigan, the swing voter verdict on Biden is pretty brutal - here's a sample from the Axios report:

"I just feel that what he’s saying is not making any sense to me," said Sharon T. of Biden's television appearances. She called Biden "a puppet" for wearing a mask in public, suggesting that he was only doing it to be politically correct.​

Some other takings:

"I don’t think that Biden is mentally capable of being president."

..."up there in age"

..."showing signs of dementia"

..."a puppet" who is "controlled by a lot of people in the deep state." ... "the lobbyists, the people that have the big money, the people that have influence on a lot of the politicians."

...a feeling that Biden "becomes lost in his answers," 

There were no contrasting positive statements noted from the participants, and you know that Axios would note them if they were there -- Axios was reduced to citing a national poll that made unfavorable claims about Trump as if those things were accurate.

The negativity on Biden extended well beyond his general addlepatedness - Axios also noted this:

Biden's lower profile in mostly virtual events was proving no competition for Trump's provocative attacks and national bully pulpit. Many of the voters couldn't name a single achievement Biden has had in his life.

That's the Democrats' signature campaign strategy, keeping Biden locked up in basement and hoping Trump hangs himself. The media has praised it as Biden's genius, Biden's winning formula, Biden's secret sauce - 'stay out of Trump's way.' Well, ahem. So much for strategy.

...

There is more.

It is more than passing strange that pollsters can't find these people but the focus group seems pretty up to speed on how bad a candidate Biden is.  They have the same vibe about Biden that I do.