These polls showing Biden winning by historical numbers in traditionally blue states are very interesting.
And not surprising to me. Democrats haven't hated any Republican candidate this much in a long, long time if ever. In 2016 a lot of them stayed home or protest voted, thinking either he couldn't win or that it wouldn't be so bad if he did. Not so this time.
I'm only 22 so I don't really remember politics from the Bush era, but did Democrats even hate Bush this much?
I would argue yes, at the time, even if they say they hate Trump more now. Trump defies more political conventions than Bush does which makes the vitriol for him feel different and new, but I think Bush's approvals at the end of his 2nd term pretty much speak for themselves. Your typical Democrat (not a fire-breathing 2000s equivalent of an SJW, just your average Democrat) held as absolute fact that Bush and Cheney had deliberately lied about WMDs in Iraq in order to kill thousands of people for personal glory and to be seen as a "conquering hero." The economy crashing in 2008 was just the cherry on top.
The big difference between 2008 and 2020 I see in regards to polls like this is that in 2008, there was a pretty sizeable contingent of Republicans who were just fed up with Bush and voted for Obama despite not really seeing much in his message beyond wanting some hope for the country. First-time young and minority voters obviously played a huge part as well, but it was definitely the confluence of these forces that gave Obama his huge win. In 2020, the fight seems to be much more one of turnout and enthusiasm with each side sticking to their base. I really doubt we'll have Rex Tillerson endorsing Biden a la Colin Powell or anything like that.
