Dem and GOP strategists talk Biden’s early frontrunner status for the Democratic presidential nomination

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Jessica Tarlov: 'Electability' is the number one issue for Democratic voters in 2020

Former Vice President Joe Biden is maintaining his frontrunner status, said Fox News contributor Jessica Tarlov.

As former Vice President Joe Biden was about to kick off his first campaign speech in Pittsburgh, Pa., Democratic strategist Jessica Tarlov and GOPAC Chairman David Avella weighed in on new poll numbers Monday suggesting the Democratic field is wide open, with Biden at the top.

In the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, Joe Biden, who officially announced his 2020 bid Thursday morning, enters as the early frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. According to the poll, 17 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents back Biden, followed by 11 percent for self-proclaimed Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Thirty-five percent had no opinion.

When asked to weigh in on the latest poll Avella said on Fox News' "Outnumbered Overtime with Harris Faulker," “When the initial Google search terms are ‘creepy Joe Biden’ and ‘Joe Biden’s age,’ and in many polls he is leading, that is not the way to start the campaign.”

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The veteran Republican strategist added, “If Joe Biden wanted to beat Barack Obama's third term, he should have when it would have been the third term, which is 2016. Joe Biden is going to lose. He's going to lose big and he is going to lose early.”

Biden’s announcement that he was a candidate marks the beginning of his third campaign for the White House.

Despite the recent #MeToo controversy potentially complicating his campaign, the former vice president has remained at the top of most public opinion polls.

Biden’s campaign hit a bump recently after several women publicly accused him of touching them inappropriately at events. The accusations came before Biden officially announced he was entering the race.

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“The overall ranking still has Joe Biden with about a six or seven-point edge over Bernie Sanders, keeping him in first place,” said Tarlov, a Fox News contributor.

“The fundraising numbers from his first 24 hours were astoundingly good with $6.3 million. That's more than Bernie Sanders and Beto O'Rourke pulled in. But again, this is week one. We've got to see how all this plays out," Tarlov said. "I'm not surprised he’s showing up in union country right away. I think we’ll know more in the next few weeks, but it seems like he is maintaining that frontrunner status.”

By picking Pennsylvania for his first campaign speech of the presidential race, Biden is signaling he hopes to own what may be the 2020 election’s toughest battleground.

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“Democrats are putting their number one issue as electability. They want to make sure that they can win in 2020, and Biden is winning across the board when you ask that question,” said Tarlov.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.