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Trump's COVID-19 meltdown fuels Republican fears of Democratic sweep in November: Lindsey Graham's senate race moves to 'toss-up' and Biden goes 51-40 in Florida in the wake of last week's presidential debate and President Donald Trump's diagnosis

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham's reelection race to 'toss-up' status, as he faces an energetic opponent and President Donald Trump takes on severe headwinds – a flashing warning sig for Republicans seeking to keep control of the Senate. 

The news, in a race ranking by a respected race-tracker, comes amid an onslaught of bad polling for President Donald Trump, who is battling COVID-19 at the White House this week.

A new Quinnipiac University poll has Democrat Joe Biden leading Trump 51-40 in battleground Florida – a jump over a persistent but narrower Biden lead in a state Trump carried in 2016. It has Biden up 54 to 41 in Pennsylvania and 50 to 45 in Iowa, two other states Trump carried.

President Donald Trump finds himself down in the polls after last week's first presidential debate

President Donald Trump finds himself down in the polls after last week's first presidential debate

The poll was taken after Trump interrupted Biden repeatedly at the first presidential debate, and following the president's positive test result for the coronavirus, which came in early Friday morning. 

In Florida, the result – taken among likely voters – is a steep drop from early September, where Biden led 48 to 45. Biden leads in seven out of eight polls there this fall, and tied in one. His average lead has grown to nearly five percentage points, in a state Trump has visited assiduously and where the president switched his residence.

Other polls released Wednesday had Trump leading in Wisconsin and even Ohio, albeit narrowly.

"In varying degrees, three critical states in three very different parts of the country come to the same ominous conclusion. The president's hopes for re-election are growing dimmer by the day," said Tim Malloy, who conducted the Quinnipiac poll. 

This comes as older voters appear to be breaking decisively Biden's way.

An NBC / Wall Street Journal poll days ago had Biden opening up a stunning 27-point lead over Trump among voters 65 and older. The poll had Biden with an overall 14-point lead, above where he is in polling averages. 

Joe Biden has opened up a lead in Florida and leads among older voters

Joe Biden has opened up a lead in Florida and leads among older voters

Trump loyalist Sen. Lindsey Graham finds himself in a toss-up race

Trump loyalist Sen. Lindsey Graham finds himself in a toss-up race

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, right, R-S.C., and moderator Judi Gatson, elbow bump after the first debate between Graham and Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, left, on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, in Columbia, S.C. Graham had been at the White House days earlier where multiple people tested positive for the coronavirus

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, right, R-S.C., and moderator Judi Gatson, elbow bump after the first debate between Graham and Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, left, on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, in Columbia, S.C. Graham had been at the White House days earlier where multiple people tested positive for the coronavirus

US Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) removes her mask as she prepares to debate Democratic challenger Mark Kelly (not in frame) at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona, on October 6, 2020. She refused to say she was 'proud' of President Trump when pressed by the moderator

US Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) removes her mask as she prepares to debate Democratic challenger Mark Kelly (not in frame) at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona, on October 6, 2020. She refused to say she was 'proud' of President Trump when pressed by the moderator

Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham offers Democrats one of their best hopes for a pickup in North Carolina – but now is contending with the emergence of racy texts and apologized after revelations of an affair came out

Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham offers Democrats one of their best hopes for a pickup in North Carolina – but now is contending with the emergence of racy texts and apologized after revelations of an affair came out

The Cook Report puts six GOP-held seats in the toss-up column, with two Republicans holding seats that 'lean' Democratic

The Cook Report puts six GOP-held seats in the toss-up column, with two Republicans holding seats that 'lean' Democratic

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures on the Truman Balcony after returning to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 05, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump spent three days hospitalized for coronavirus

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures on the Truman Balcony after returning to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 05, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump spent three days hospitalized for coronavirus

Another potential challenge for Trump: a new Newsy/YouGov poll of 'moderate' voters shows Biden leading them by a large margin, 68 to 26. 

Graham, a key Trump loyalist who has golfed and advised the president despite attacking him in 2016 as 'race-baiting' and calling him a 'jackass,' is experiencing problems with his GOP base as he faces a stiff challenge from Democrat Jaime Harrison.

Now, he is seeking to use Supreme Court confirmation hearings he will oversee as Senate Judiciary chairman for Judge Amy Coney Barrett as a way to try to bring conservatives home.

'Ultimately, this race has earned a more competitive rating — underscoring just how fast the GOP majority is slipping away if they have to defend turf like this, and also how much Trump’s numbers have fallen across the board,' writes Jessica Taylor of the Cook Political Report.

The races moved from 'lean' Republican, despite South Carolina's status as a Republican-leaning state.

Harrison has proved to be a dynamic candidate and fundraising powerhouse, to the point where Graham was pleading with donors during a recent Fox News appearance. 

Graham and the GOP have spent a combined $37 million – compared to $68 million for Harrison and Democrats on the race – as Democrats try to expand the field and pry control of the Senate way from Republicans.

Two Republican held seats – in Colorado and Arizona – already lead the Democrats' way. One of them, appointed Sen. Martha McSally, got grilled in a debate Tuesday where she refused to say she was 'proud' of President Trump.

McSally trails Democrat Mark Kelly by 8 points in new Arizona poll. 

The Cook Report rates six other GOP seats as 'toss-ups' – with one Democratic seat, held by Sen. Doug Jones in heavily Republican Alabama, rated 'lean' Republican.

A change of three seats would flip control if Joe Biden captures the White House.

The best Senate news for Republicans this week came in North Carolina, where Cal Cunningham has been leading incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis and hauling in fundraising cash. The married Cunningham apologized over the weekend after racy text messages with Arlene Todd Guzman emerged in the conservative National File. 

Guzman Todd confirmed she had been 'intimate' with the Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, considered one of the Democrats' best hopes for picking up a seat. Cunningham said Friday he 'hurt my family, disappointed my friends, and am deeply sorry,' and PAC affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted Cunningham with local news coverage.

That might normally be political gold for Tillis, but the incumbent is in quarantine having tested positive for the coronavirus having attended the Saturday White House event for Judge Barrett that has emerged as a possible superspreader event. 

The poll deficit is the backdrop for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's gambit to try to install Barrett for her lifetime appointment before the elections. 

A potential 'x factor' in the election is how voters will respond to Trump contracting the coronavirus. 

After his positive test early Friday, Trump flew by helicopter to Walter Reed hospital, left briefly in a car to greet supporters, and took flack for incomplete information provided by the White House physician.

Trump is now back at the White House, where he has fired off dozens of tweets including one calling off coronavirus negotiations, then proposing new legislation hours later.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday called for an 'intervention,' as Democratic critics accused the president of 'roid rage' while taking a steroid as part of his coronavirus treatment regimen. 

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