A new national survey conducted by Emerson College Polling has unveiled a closely contested race between former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden for the potential 2024 presidential election. The poll, conducted on February 13-14, 2024, shows that 45% of voters favor Trump, while 44% support Biden, with 11% still undecided.

The support for both candidates has dipped slightly by one point since the January national poll. When matched up against other prominent Democrats, Trump leads with 46% against Vice President Kamala Harris's 43%, and California Governor Gavin Newsom's 36%. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer trails behind with 33%, while Trump maintains a lead at 45%, with 22% still undecided.

The survey highlights a stark divide based on educational background, with voters without a college degree leaning toward Trump at 48% to 39%, while college-educated voters favor Biden by a margin of 52% to 39%.

When third-party candidates Robert Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein are added to the hypothetical ballot, Trump leads Biden with 40% to 38%. Kennedy Jr. receives 7% of support, while Stein and West each garner 1%. The number of undecided voters increases to 13%.

The survey also explored concerns about the individual candidates. Overall, 58% of voters expressed serious doubts about Biden's age impacting their decision to vote for him in 2024, while 42% did not consider it a major concern. Similarly, 57% of voters considered Trump's criminal indictments a serious consideration that raises doubts, while 43% did not view it as a significant factor.

Among independent voters, 54% expressed doubts about Biden's age, and 61% raised concerns about Trump's criminal indictments. Within their respective parties, 45% of Democrats were concerned about Biden's age, while only 30% of Republicans shared the same concerns about Trump's indictments.

In the Republican Presidential Primary, Trump holds a significant lead with 77% of support, while former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley trails behind at 13%. Meanwhile, 56% of Republican Primary voters believe Haley should drop out, while 31% think she should stay in the race.

President Biden's job approval rating remained steady at 42% since the last poll, with 47% expressing disapproval. Within the Democratic Primary, 74% support Biden as the nominee, while 9% favor Dean Phillips, and 17% are undecided.

When asked about the most pressing issues facing the country, 30% of voters identified the economy as the top concern, followed by immigration (21%), threats to democracy (14%), healthcare (11%), education (6%), crime (6%), and abortion access (5%).

The survey also revisited the favorability ratings of musician Taylor Swift and the National Football League (NFL). Swift's favorability among voters remained relatively unchanged, with 40% viewing her favorably, 42% neutrally, and 18% unfavorably. Similarly, the NFL's favorability remained steady at 53%, with 32% neutral and 15% unfavorable.

The Emerson College Polling survey was conducted with a sample of 1,225 registered voters and has a credibility interval of +/- 2.7 percentage points. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party affiliation, and region based on 2024 registration modeling.

It is crucial to consider that subsets based on demographics may have higher credibility intervals due to reduced sample size. The survey results should be understood within the range of scores, and with a 95% confidence interval, a poll will fall outside this range 1 in 20 times.

Funded by Emerson College, the survey provides valuable insights into the evolving dynamics of the 2024 presidential race and the concerns and opinions of American voters.