US Elections 2024: US Vice President Kamala Harris, who has recently become the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee, is currently leading Republican candidate Donald Trump by two percentage points after Joe Biden officially ended his re-election campaign and endorsed her for the position, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Harris has received the support of enough delegates to make her eligible to become the presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention next month.
The Vice President has been endorsed by almost all the party leaders and has raised a record $100 million from thousands of people nationwide. She has become the only hope for Democrats, which till a few days ago appeared to be bitterly divided and on the brink of being swept by a Trump wave. Biden's surprise exit from the presidential race and his endorsement of Harris made her the first official of Indian and African heritage to contest on a major party's ticket.
"I am proud to have earned the support needed to become our party's nominee... This election will present a clear choice between two different visions... Over the next few months, I'll be travelling across the country talking to Americans about everything on the line. I fully intend to unite our party and our nation, and defeat Donald Trump," she said in a statement on Monday.
What did the poll say?
Harris, whose campaign says she has secured the Democratic nomination, led Trump 44 per cent to 42 per cent in the national poll, a difference within the 3-percentage-point margin of error. Harris and Trump were tied at 44 per cent in a July 15-16 poll, and Trump led by one percentage point in a July 1-2 poll, both within the same margin of error.
The new poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, followed both the Republican National Convention where Trump on Thursday formally accepted the nomination and Biden's announcement on Sunday he was leaving the race and endorsing Harris. While nationwide surveys give important signals of American support for political candidates, a handful of competitive states typically tilt the balance in the US Electoral College, which ultimately decides who wins a presidential election.
A pollster with Trump's campaign played down any polling showing an increase in Harris' support, arguing that she was likely to see a temporary rise in popularity because of widespread media coverage of her new candidacy. "That bump is likely to start showing itself over the next few days and will last for a while," pollster Tony Fabrizio said in a memo circulated to reporters by Trump's campaign.
What do people think of Harris?
As per the Reuters/Ipsos poll, some 56 per cent of registered voters agreed with a statement that Harris, 59, was "mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges," compared to 49 per cent who said the same of Trump, 78. A mere 22 per cent of voters thought the same for Biden, 81, who was under pressure to exit after his disastrous debate performance on June 27.
Some 80 per cent of Democratic voters said they viewed Biden favourably, compared to 91 per cent who said the same of Harris. Three-quarters of Democratic voters said they agreed with a statement that the party and voters should get behind Harris now, with only a quarter saying multiple candidates should compete for the party's nomination.
Many respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they knew nothing about the Democrats seen as potential picks to join Harris' ticket. About one in four registered voters said they had never heard of US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a former Democratic presidential candidate who had the highest favorability rating - 37 per cent - of the potential Harris running mates in the poll.
In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Trump expressed confidence in his ability to defeat Harris, noting that her previous presidential run in 2020 did not even survive until the first statewide nominating contest. The former President also offered to debate Harris multiple times. Trump and Biden had one more debate scheduled on September 10 after their encounter on June 27.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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