Trump and Harris neck and neck after summer upheaval, shows Times/Siena poll
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A national poll of likely voters by The New York Times and Siena College found Donald Trump leading Ms Kamala Harris, 48 per cent to 47 per cent.
PHOTOS: NYTIMES
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WASHINGTON – Former president Donald Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris enter the home stretch of the campaign in a tight race, and with their only scheduled debate looming on Sept 10, Ms Harris faces a sizeable share of voters who still say they need to know more about her.
A national poll of likely voters by The New York Times and Siena College found Trump leading Ms Harris, 48 per cent to 47 per cent, within the poll’s 3-percentage-point margin of error and largely unchanged from a Times/Siena poll taken in late July just after President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid.
Trump may have had a rough month after the President’s departure and amid the burst of excitement that Ms Harris brought Democrats, but the poll suggests his support remains remarkably resilient.
The national results are in line with polls in the seven battleground states that will decide the presidential election, where Ms Harris is tied with Trump or holds slim leads, according to Times polling averages. Taken together, they show a tight race that remains either candidate’s to win or lose.
Only a little more than eight weeks remain in the shortest presidential election in modern American history.
Both candidates have scant opportunity to shift the electorate, but for Trump, opinions are largely fixed. Ms Harris is still unknown to many.
In that sense, the new poll underscores the risks and potential rewards, particularly facing Ms Harris, on the night of Sept 10, when she and Trump will face off on ABC News.
The survey found that 28 per cent of likely voters said they felt they needed to know more about Ms Harris, while only 9 per cent said they needed to know more about Trump.
These voters, when taken with the 5 per cent of voters who said they were undecided or did not lean towards either major-party candidate, paint a portrait of an electorate that could be more fluid than it seems.
Some who are considering Ms Harris said they still hoped to learn more before solidifying their decision, and two-thirds of those who want to know more said they were eager to learn about her policies, specifically.
Overall, the poll may bring Democratic exuberance back to earth after a buoyant party convention in Chicago in August, and rapid gains in support for Ms Harris after Mr Biden’s poor showing in the polls. NYTIMES
