Harris is Trending Positive. But... [View all]

Kamala Harris trounced Donald Trump in their debate and now, with help from Trump and his runnning mate, JD Vance, she has a two-point edge over Trump in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls and a three-point lead in 538’s average. And in some of the polls regarded as most reliable, she leads by more—4% according to ABC News and YouGov and 6 % according to Morning Consult.

Moreover, the percentage of voters who view her favorably now is equal to those who view her unfavorably. In July, the month President Biden handed the Democratic nomination to her, she was under water by 16 points. Trump is still under water by almost 10.

And she’s been raising gobs of money more than Trump and got endorsed by conservative Republicans Dick and Lynn Cheney and then by super-celebrity Taylor Swift, but not by the Teamsters. Swift’s endorsement produced a more than 400 percent increase in signups at the government’s voter registration site. Trump, after posting a fake video showing Swift endorsing him, erupted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” following her Harris endorsement.

All this is good news for Harris. The not-so-good news is that in all seven swing states where the election will be decided, the race is within the margin of error. And in all of them, Harris is running behind where Biden was in September 2020, when he ended up winning by tiny margins. Moreover, Trump still has sizable leads on who’s better at handling the issues voters care about most—20 points on the economy, 23 points on immigration and 6 on foreign policy. She has a 21 point lead on abortion and 9 on protecting democracy. And 45% say she’s too liberal.

https://www.postalley.org/2024/09/19/harris-is-trending-positive-but/