Biden enters first presidential debate with just 42% of Democrats satisfied with him as nominee

President Biden is heading into the first presidential debate with a notably uneasy base of support, according to a new poll.

An Associated Press poll conducted in partnership with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research was released on Wednesday, dissecting the public’s attitudes towards the candidates heading into the CNN Presidential Debate on Thursday.

Only 42% of Democrat respondents told pollsters that they were satisfied with Biden as their candidate.

By contrast, approximately six in 10 Republicans are satisfied with Trump as their party’s candidate, according to the poll. About three in 10 adults are dissatisfied with both candidates.

Biden has spent the last five days at Camp David in rural Maryland huddling with at least 16 current and former aides, according to The New York Times, while Trump, who spoke with Fox News over the weekend, has held ‘policy discussions’ with allies to prep for what is expected to be an epic clash on the debate stage in CNN’s Atlanta studios.

An old movie theater and airplane hangar have been outfitted as a mock debate stage, where Biden, despite having varying hours and a non-rigid schedule, is preparing to go on the offensive against Trump on issues like immigration and abortion, as well as push back on claims — appearing to be supported by various videos — that he is confused and frail, The Times reported.

Trump jokingly asked the crowd at his Philadelphia rally what his approach should be on the debate stage. 

‘How should I handle him? Should I be tough and nasty, and just say, ‘You’re the worst president in history.’ Or should I be nice and calm and let him speak?’ he asked.

A recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll released on Tuesday found only 12% of Georgia voters between the ages of 18 and 29 intended to vote for Biden. 

Approximately 37% of those young Georgia voters said they planned to vote for Trump.

While Republicans are more likely to be satisfied with Trump as their candidate than Democrats are satisfied with Biden, the two candidates experience nearly identical levels of positivity and negativity across party lines.

Approximately nine in 10 Democrats expressed negative feelings towards Trump, while nine in 10 Republicans said the same about Biden. 

Approximately seven in 10 Republicans expressed positive feelings about Trump, while a similar seven in 10 Democrats said the same about Biden. 

The AP-NORC poll surveyed 1,088 adults selected to be representative of the U.S. population, drawn from the NORC AmeriSpeak Panel. It has a sampling error of +/-4%.

Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.