Welcome back to the Data for Progress newsletter, your weekly update on our research, blog posts, and memes.

Debate Poll: Biden Won
President Trump was desperate for a big bounce from Thursday night’s debate, and our polling shows that he didn’t get one. A majority of voters (52 percent) thought Joe Biden won, while just 41 percent preferred Trump. Moderates favored Biden by a 2:1 margin.

Biden looks even stronger on the issue of the coronavirus — our snap poll of the debate found that voters trust him to handle the pandemic by a 56-41 margin over Trump.


Memo: Voters Support a Public Option for Health Insurance
Millions have lost their health insurance during the pandemic, and voters are ready for the public option. Not only do voters support the policy, but 49 percent say they are personally willing to pay the government for health insurance, while just 35 percent would prefer to pay private insurers.



And there isn’t just one fixed public option plan — the public option can be adjusted to include more (or less) ambitious provisions. For example, Biden’s public option could: 

• Allow employers to buy into the public plan (59 percent support, 24 percent opposed)

• Require employers to contribute towards their employees’ public option plans if they choose these plans over an employer-provided alternative (59-24)

• Automatically enroll everyone without insurance into the plan (61-26)
   

Read the full memo here!


Memo: Voters Overwhelmingly Support Climate Equity Policies
A substantial number of Americans are at risk of losing vital economic resources. In new polling, we show that 32 percent of Americans are worried about losing their health insurance, 30 percent are worried about losing their housing, and 27 percent are worried about losing their full-time job.



Voters are also concerned about the effects of climate change on their living situations. Thirteen percent said they’ve considered leaving their community in the past year due to extreme weather and natural disasters, and more than half — 68 percent — said they’re concerned about pollution of the air, water, and soil in their communities.

A key way to address these issues is with equity mapping, which would measure the past, present, and future impacts of pollution on different geographic areas to ensure that climate investments are directed specifically towards frontline communities. And it’s not just Democrats that are on board — our polling finds that equity mapping has bipartisan appeal, drawing in majority support from Democrats, independents, and Republicans.




Voters Oppose Conservative Jurisprudence
As Senate Republicans move quickly to confirm Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett before the election, we find that voters are directly opposed to conservative judicial priorities. 

For example, a strong majority of voters — 62 percent, including more than half of Republicans — believe that state public health laws to limit in-person gatherings to contain the coronavirus should be kept in place. Only 29 percent believe the restrictions are unconstitutional.



We also find 70 percent support for continuing to allow the EPA to regulate CO2 emissions and 57 percent support for upholding the Affordable Care Act.


The Fuck Gerry(mandering) Fund Has Raised $1 Million!
It looks like people really want to unfuck our nation’s distorted districting — our Fuck Gerry(mandering) Fund has now raised $1 million! And we’re not stopping there. Every dollar we receive goes to state legislature races where your money can make the biggest difference this November. Donate now!

And our Green New Deal Slate has now raised more than $100,000 — donate to that too!


Data Bytes

• Biden Leading in Texas, Democrats Looking Strong in North Carolina and Michigan: Texas is absolutely in play for Democrats this November. New DFP polling shows Joe Biden with a 47-46 lead over President Trump in the state. Meanwhile, Democratic Senate candidate MJ Hegar is trailing John Cornyn by three points.
  
  In North Carolina, Democrats are in a stronger position. Brand new DFP polling finds Biden with a 48-44 lead there, and Cal Cunningham with a four point edge over Republican incumbent Thom Tillis. Things are also looking great in Michigan — we find Biden up 50-45 there, and Democratic incumbent Gary Peters with a 48-43 edge over Republican John James.
   

• Earth to Biden: Stop Talking About Fracking: In new research published in The Nation, we show that after Biden and Kamala Harris came out against a fracking ban in the debates, support among Democrats for the policy fell by 16 percentage points.
  
  
  
  Instead of rebutting Republicans’ smears, we argue that Biden and Harris should focus on the positives of their $2 trillion climate plan, which is extremely popular with voters.

From The Blog
Voters Oppose Conservative Jurisprudence
Phoenix Voters Support Clean Energy Investments
Our Government Isn’t Progressive—But America Is
DFP Coronavirus Response Tracking Poll Week 28


Memos
Memo: Voters Overwhelmingly Support Climate Equity Policies
Memo: Voters Support a Public Option For Health Insurance


Media Hits
Could Biden Name an Indigenous Secretary of the Interior? Environmental Groups are Hoping He Will. @Inside Climate News
Earth to Biden: Stop Talking About Fracking @The Nation
Left-wing groups seek to pressure Biden on chief of staff pick @Politico
Joe Biden Narrowly Leads Donald Trump in New Texas Presidential Poll @Newsweek
The first post-debate polls say Biden won @Vox
Here's What Snap Polls Say About Who Won the Final Trump-Biden Debate @Newsweek
The Question That Haunts Climate Advocates @The Atlantic
Family Care: Good Policy, Good Politics @The American Prospect


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