iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Democratic Party’s presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris is ahead of former US President Donald Trump by four points each in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, according to new polls conducted by The New York Times and Siena College.
Harris has transformed the 2024 presidential elections as it shows a major shift from previous polls, which found Trump leading Harris and President Joe Biden by an average of one or two points each across the same three states. The New York Times reported that it is hard to explain why voters shift allegiances. The margin of sampling error among likely voters was plus or minus 4.8 percentage points in Michigan, plus or minus 4.2 points in Pennsylvania and plus or minus 4.3 points in Wisconsin, the report added. In total, 1,973 likely voters were interviewed for those polls.
Until now, the dynamic of the race was driven by US President Biden’s unpopularity. It prevented Democrats from running their usual strategy against Trump and his MAGA allies, making an election a referendum on Trump by running a broadly acceptable candidate. Biden ended his re-election bid on July 21 and endorsed Harris for the Nov. 5 vote after a disastrous debate performance against Trump in late June. Harris’ takeover has reenergized a campaign that had faltered badly amid Democrats’ doubts about Biden’s chances of defeating Trump or his ability to continue to govern had he won.
In the poll, at least 49 percent of likely voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin highlight that they have a favorable view of her, a level neither Harris nor Biden obtained in any previous Times/Siena poll this cycle, The New York Times reported.
Donald Trump’s views haven’t diminished, in fact, his favorability rating ticked up slightly, to 46 percent across the three states, which is just enough to represent his highest rating in the history of the poll.
According to a majority of people, Harris is honest and intelligent and she brings the right kind of change and has the temperament to be president, adding that she has a clear vision for the country.
However, 44 percent of the likely voters say she’s too liberal or progressive, compared with another 44 percent saying she’s not too far either way and another 6 percent saying she isn’t progressive enough, reported The New York Times. Harris may be polling like a generic Democrat, but she will now be subject to much more scrutiny and attack, the report added.
Harris has benefitted from favorable media coverage, along with major endorsements and an outpouring of goodwill from voters who had been yearning for an alternative to two disliked older candidates. However, this period will not last forever, and the question is whether she will retain this kind of support when the going gets tough, The New York Times reported.
Certainly, the poll doesn’t offer an indication either way. But the huge swing in opinion on Harris in just the last few weeks is a reminder that the public doesn’t necessarily have firmly held views about her. If Trump’s lead over Harris in earlier polling wasn’t necessarily based on solid views about the vice president, it can’t be assumed that her lead over Trump stands on firm ground today.
