Vice President Harris has major ground to clear in a high-stakes, truncated presidential campaign, but recent polling suggests that former President Trump may not have that significant of a head start.
Trump holds a 3-point lead over Harris in a CNN poll released Wednesday– one of the first major polls of the new matchup formed after President Biden ended his reelection campaign over the weekend.
Harris's support is stronger than Biden's among young people, Black and Hispanic voters — crucial Democratic bases, according to CNN's findings.
The Hill's Nick Robertson has the breakdown:
"About 95 percent of voters who told CNN in previous polls that they would back Biden said they would support Harris, while 92 percent of previous Trump supporters said they would stick with the former president. Of previously undecided voters, 30 percent back Harris and 27 percent back Trump."
According to polls reviewed by Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) and The Hill, Harris has struggled to gain favorability during her time as vice president. Her net favorability has been underwater for the past year. Her polling average currently puts her at 55.5 percent unfavorable to 37.7 percent favorable. The polls included in that average were all conducted before Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
YouGov's weekly tracker, which includes data from Monday, has Harris polling 54 percent unfavorable to 43 percent favorable among registered voters.
Harris has about 100 days to build support around her campaign.
Already, she's sparked several viral sensations and snapped up key endorsements from politicians, celebrities and other luminaries.
She's been affectionately called "brat," inspired a surge of memes about coconut trees and provided reassurance to fellow Venn diagram aficionados.
But some veteran political strategists say voters should be cautious about reading too much into the Harris hype.
"I understand that people [are] feeling a lot better and excited, but that excitement's gotta be tempered with realism, and the realism is, she has a tough campaign to run, and as you say, she's got several things she's got to accomplish," James Carville, the chief architect behind former President Clinton's successful campaign in 1992, said during an appearance on MSNBC Wednesday.
"But having said that, there's been real growth in Vice President Harris. I mean, you can just see the difference ... she just looked so confident to me yesterday ... I liked what I saw, I'll be honest with you."
Harris was in Wisconsin on Tuesday and Indiana on Wednesday — hitting key battlegrounds as she works to energize and expand her voter base.
"There are those who are trying to take us backward," she told an enthusiastic crowd of sorority members in Indianapolis. "I deeply believe in the promise of America -- the promise of freedom, opportunity and justice. Not for some, but all."
Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. Wednesday in his first public remarks since dropping his reelection bid and endorsing Harris to take his place against Trump atop the November ticket. The Hill's Brett Samuels has outlined five things to watch.
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