Survey results show that the proportion of Americans who feel negatively about Ms. Harris tends to increase, which could negatively impact the Vice President’s election campaign.
On September 27, Ms. Kamala Harris went to Douglas city, Arizona to campaign. This is the first time she has visited the US-Mexico border area during the campaign, carrying the message of tightening asylum regulations and declaring that preventing the addictive drug fentanyl from entering the US is a “top priority”.
A few days earlier, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ms. Harris gave a speech outlining her vision for the US economy, attacking Republican opponent Donald Trump for “only caring about improving life for himself.” relatives and the like, the richest group in America”.
Ms. Harris’s message attracted attention from significant American voters, according to The Breakthrougha polling project that tracks how the public consumes election news. But the project also notes that the data shows some emerging trends, carrying warning signals for the Vice President’s campaign.
The percentage of Americans who know more information about Vice President Harris has gradually decreased each week since her debate with Mr. Trump on September 10. During this same period, Americans’ feelings about what they heard about Ms. Harris became increasingly negative.
Among the group that heard, read or saw Ms. Harris, “lie” was the fourth most mentioned word when they associated the Vice President, behind “border,” “probe” and “campaign.” Before the Democratic National Convention in August, “lie” was not even in the top 20 most mentioned words.
Issues that are associated when American voters hear, see or read news about Ms. Kamala Harris. Graphics: CNN
The Breakthourgh is a project conducted weekly by CNN, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan and polling groups SSRS and Verasight, asking about 1,000 American adults online questions.
The most recent survey was conducted by The Breakthourgh on September 27-30. Survey participants will be asked “What have you heard, read or seen in the past few days” about candidates like Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris. The proportion of Americans mentioning the words “lie” or “liar” when answering questions about Ms. Harris increased gradually to 6%.
“Mrs. Kamala can’t say anything,” one survey participant responded. “She used a lot of meaningless words. She said she would close the border, but that was a lie to get elected. Everything she pledged was a lie.”
The percentage of associations with immigration and economic issues increased to 15% and 13%, after Ms. Harris came to Douglas and spoke about her economic vision. This is also the first time immigration and the economy are among the top 5 issues most associated with Ms. Harris.
“I watched her speeches and appreciated her clearly explaining her policies and positions on issues,” one survey participant wrote. “The concern for all people and the ability to point to concrete solutions to problems provide a sharp contrast to Donald Trump.”
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke in Douglas, Arizona on September 27. Image: AFP
As for Trump, assassination plots against him are still factors that attract public attention. The immigration issue is somewhat blurred, while public opinion about the meeting between former President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month began to emerge.
“He met Mr. Zelensky and was not very enthusiastic about helping Ukraine,” one person wrote.
Meanwhile, the number of people describing former President Trump as a liar is about 8%. This rate sometimes decreased, such as when he was unsuccessfully assassinated in Butler, Pennsylvania in July and the Republican National Convention in August.
Issues that are associated when American voters hear, see or read news about Donald Trump. Graphics: CNN
The latest poll showed that 64% of participants said they saw, read or heard about Ms. Harris, while Mr. Trump’s rate was 68%. This is the fourth consecutive week that Mr. Trump leads Ms. Harris in this category. This rate also decreased significantly compared to the previous week, Mr. Trump decreased by 7 percentage points, Ms. Harris decreased by 5 percentage points.
The level of attention to presidential candidates this year is also lower than at the same period in previous election seasons. This may partly be due to the influence of the time the debate was held. Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris debated on September 10, while the 2016 and 2020 presidential candidate debates both took place at the end of September.
“Things have been pretty quiet this week,” one person wrote when asked about Mr. Trump. “I didn’t hear anything.”
Poll results generally show that Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris are still in close competition. Meanwhile, October is a time when elements of surprise often appear in US elections. A small ripple in public opinion can turn the tide in battleground states, where victory and defeat are sometimes determined by just a few tens of thousands of votes.