Since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Biden at the top of the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket, most national and swing state polls have produced predictable results. Before Harris was installed as the new nominee, most surveys portended a victory by former President Donald Trump in November. Now his national lead has ostensibly evaporated and it appears plausible that Harris could win. There is, however, a noticeable pattern in the latest polls that suggests otherwise. Most surveys, including those which show a tied race or even a slim Harris lead, indicate that voters don’t trust her on the economy any more than they trusted Biden on the same issue.
CNBC’s latest All-America Economic Survey, for example, found this: “On the economy, by 2-to-1, Americans think they will be better off financially under Trump.” The latest CBS News poll shows similar results: “On having policies that will improve peoples’ finances: Harris opens in the same position as Mr. Biden was in July, trailing Trump substantially.” Specifically, 45 percent of voters said the former president would improve their financial situation while only 25 percent said the same about VP Harris. The most recent Wall Street Journal poll found that, among “persuadable” voters, “Only 12 percent say Harris is better able to handle the economy than Trump, while 61 percent say Trump is the better economic steward.”
