Democrats and Republicans are equally likely to say the other candidate is “too corrupt.”

Admittedly, these are broad terms, allowing those who wish to express their dislike for a candidate to adapt him or her to suit their wishes. But even considering their malleability, there is nothing about either candidate that is “too corrupt,” not just corrupt. Disqualified Corrupt – very modest.

About 4 in 10 respondents said that about Mr. Trump, and a third of respondents said the same about Mr. Biden. Even though the difference in the number of criminal charges and impeachments applied to both candidates was much larger, the difference was in the single digits.

In general, Americans expressed more concerns about Trump than Biden, although not by a wide margin. Respondents were more likely to say President Trump is too extreme, too corrupt, and too dangerous. Only when it came to the question “Too incompetent” did a high percentage of respondents identify Mr. Biden.

Interestingly, these patterns held true even when looking at partisan subgroups. Mr. Trump was also more likely than Mr. Biden to be seen as “too extreme” even by his own party. Mr. Biden was more likely than Mr. Trump to be seen by the opposition as “too incompetent” by Democrats.

Also interesting is how these numbers have changed over time.

Yahoo and YouGov asked the same question in May. The difference between Biden and Trump on the question “too corrupt” was double digits, but on the question “too incompetent” it was single digits. Since then, thanks in large part to changes within the Republican Party, the “corruption” gap has narrowed and the “incompetence” gap has widened.

The share of Republicans who say Mr. Biden is too corrupt rose by 12 points, no doubt thanks to the investigation and impeachment effort by Congressional Republicans. This helped narrow the overall gap between the two candidates, just as the growing number of Republicans saying Biden is “too incompetent” helped widen the overall gap. Among Democrats, the proportion saying Biden is too incompetent remained unchanged.

The gap between Biden and Trump for both “too corrupt” and “too incompetent” changed by 10 points, putting Biden at a disadvantage among all respondents.

This is the quiet but obvious purpose of Republican efforts to target Biden: to convince Republicans skeptical of Trump’s indictment and actions that Biden is no more. A new poll shows 5% of Republicans say Trump is too corrupt to be president. Nearly 7 in 10 say Mr. Biden is, about the same percentage of Democrats who think Mr. Trump is “too corrupt.”