A New York Times’ podcast acknowledged what many Kamala Harris supporters have feared since she first declared her candidacy: the initial enthusiasm sparked by her late entry into the presidential race has seemingly dissipated.
“The Daily” episode, titled “The Harris Honeymoon is Over,” examined the latest New York Times/Siena poll which shows former President Trump leading Harris by one percentage point among likely voters nationwide.
The polls findings send a grim message about the state of Harris’ campaign, according to New York Times chief political analyst Nate Cohn, who joined the podcast to break down the results.
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the White House. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)
“There is a chance that this poll is telling us that the honeymoon is over, so to speak, that the momentum is no longer propelling her forward and instead Trump has ascended,” “The Daily” host Sabrina Tavernise remarked.
“That’s right,” Cohn agreed. “It would suggest that she’s come a little bit back to Earth now that there isn’t this wave of euphoria that greeted her initial candidacy.”
Cohn said the recent polling indicates a desire from the public to learn more about Harris and her policies. Harris continues to dodge formal press briefings and avoids regular engagement with the press.
“The poll suggests some early signs that now that that euphoria has faded, the public is still hungering for a little bit more about Kamala Harris, and she hasn’t provided it yet and that that’s hurting her a little bit among some critical constituencies…,” Cohn said.
He explained that among the “traditional Democratic constituencies,” which includes young, Black and Latino voters, Harris has left them wanting more.
“In each of those cases, our poll finds a really disproportionate share of those voters saying they don’t feel like they’ve yet learned enough about Kamala Harris. That there’s still a lot more that they need to learn before they’re comfortable with her.
He added that while the poll doesn’t necessarily indicate an “extraordinarily deep problem” for the Harris campaign, “it does show that she hasn’t made the sale yet” among those key voting blocs.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th National Convention on July 25, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)
Tavernise noted that while Harris has garnered support from certain Democrat voters who were dissatisfied with Joe Biden, it seemingly isn’t enough “to outweigh Trump’s growing strength with White working class and with older voters, at least so far.”
Cohn said Harris’ lackluster polling is likely because she hasn’t yet managed to persuade voters that she will be an effective agent of change.
“The overarching thing that voters say they want is change…major change from Joe Biden. A majority of voters say the country is heading in the wrong direction… this is a dissatisfied electorate and at the moment, they’re not convinced that Kamala Harris offers the solution to the problems that concern them.
“So,” he added, “at this time when Americans are dissatisfied and looking for something different, Donald Trump appears to have a really big advantage over Kamala Harris in representing a major departure from the statues quo.”
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Tavernise said the Harris campaign would be wise to distance themselves as much as possible from Biden. But Cohn said the poll suggests some voters don’t just think Harris may be too similar to Biden, but they also blame her for some of “what they think it wrong with the country today.”
Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is embraced by U.S. President Joe Biden during a campaign event at IBEW Local Union #5 on September 02, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ( (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images))
But Republicans shouldn’t get too comfortable. Cohn said that the young, Black and Latino constituencies are typically less politically engaged than other demographics and that “it’s entirely plausible that when these voters do tune in – and many will in time, they will find they like a lot of what Kamala Harris has to say.”
“What’s interesting about this is the fact that some key voters say they don’t know much about her, but it’s not like she hasn’t staked out any policy positions…but what this poll suggests is that really isn’t breaking through to people,” Tavernise said.
The Times/Siena poll released on Sunday found that Trump garnered the support of 48% of likely voters, compared to 47% who indicated support for Harris. The poll comes after weeks of increased enthusiasm for the Democratic ticket after Harris took over for Biden, though the New York Times argued that it appears Trump’s support is “remarkably resilient” to the stunning changes to the election landscape.
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The poll found that Harris has yet to sell voters on her vision for the country, with 28% of respondents indicating that they felt like they needed to know more about her in order for her to earn their support. In contrast, only 9% indicated similar concerns about Trump.
But the poll’s news wasn’t all bad for Harris, finding that 91% of Democrats were enthusiastic about voting, while 85% of Republicans indicated the same.
Fox News’ Michael Lee contributed to this report.