“The polls clearly show that Biden is ahead and by a larger margin than Hillary Clinton was on the eve of the 2016 election… [Yet] An average of recent polls finds that a majority of voters (about 55%) believe that Trump will defeat Biden in the election. Trump's edge on this question has remained fairly consistent over time. A majority or plurality of voters thought he'd be re-elected in a February Fox News poll and a September 2019 Marist College poll. During none of these periods was Trump ahead when pollsters asked voters who they would vote for…

“It seems Americans have probably overreacted to the 2016 result. They don't trust the numbers that are in front of them. Americans think the polls are underestimating Republicans… That may be the case, but it seems like a bad bet given that polls did pretty well in 2018. My advice would be that in gauging the electorate, you shouldn't be of the mindset that Trump is going to pull it out if the polls continue to suggest he won't. Even Trump's own polling reportedly has him behind. Trump's a politician, not a magician.”
Harry Enten, CNN

“For better or worse, the first Twitter president is a master at using social media to frame the daily debate and news coverage. Mr. Trump’s flair for the outrageous helps drive that attention. In contrast, Mr. Biden’s temperance and decorum are relative strengths. But civility isn’t particularly well-suited to social media…

“Still, with creative and timely interventions, Mr. Biden can turn the tables on Mr. Trump. To do this, the challenger needs to behave more like an insurgent, building the capacity to wield facts, humor and mockery at lightning speed in those surreal moments of opportunity that Mr. Trump regularly provides. (Simple example: a Biden video, fired off in real time: ‘This is a cup of Lysol. It is poison. Please do not drink it’)… Every day, Mr. Trump provides opportunities. It isn’t hard to get a rise out of this thin-skinned president and knock him off his game. Be a speedboat, not a battleship. Make him react to you.”
David Axelrod and David Plouffe, New York Times

Regarding the sexual assault allegations against Biden, “If you thought that the evidence against Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh was sufficient to deny him confirmation to a seat on the Supreme Court, are you a hypocrite if you don’t think the Reade allegations are enough to mean that Biden should not be president?…

“This is not an ordinary political contest against an ordinary incumbent. Ensuring that Trump does not enjoy another four years in office may be enough to justify egregious hypocrisy, but it would be hypocrisy, nonetheless. Democrats and feminists should be hesitant to expose themselves, once again, to accusations that their horror over sexual harassment and assault is purely situational… If — underscore, if — it becomes clear or even likely that Biden engaged in the behavior that Reade alleges, there must be a serious conversation about whether he can be the Democratic nominee.”
Ruth Marcus, Washington Post

Regarding voting procedures in November, “No one knows how difficult in-person voting will be by the fall, but states should prepare for the worst — and Congress should immediately provide emergency funding, with up to $2 billion needed. I’d support such spending because democracy is worth spending money on… No one wants the uncertainty of an extended contested election with complaints like those we heard about the recent Wisconsin primary or the Iowa caucuses in February.”
Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg

“As election security experts have pointed out, fraud is exceptionally rare, hard to commit without getting caught and nearly impossible to do on the scale necessary to affect election results… [Moreover] Looking at voters by political party, we find that [turnout among] Democrats and Republicans [increased] about the same amount: around 8 percentage points…

“For most voters, mail voting is not a partisan issue. The reform draws strong support among both Democratic and Republican voters, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. Support is even stronger among Democrats and Republicans living in states that already have all-mail voting. All-mail voting appears to be that rarest of democracy reforms: a shift that helps everyone get more involved, that reduces inequities and that attracts support across parties — if only at the grass-roots level… At this point, the burden of argument regarding the merit of mail voting should be on its opponents, not its proponents.”
Charlotte Hill, Jacob Grumbach, Adam Bonica, and Hakeem Jefferson, New York Times