politics
Vice President Kamala Harris is ending her first week virtually at the highest of the Democratic nomination and is definitely receiving excellent news from the Granite State. Two latest polls show her six percentage points ahead of former President Donald Trump in New Hampshire, amid a wave of enthusiasm following Joe Biden's decision to step aside and endorse Harris.
A University of New Hampshire survey found that 49% of likely voters within the state say they’d vote for Harris if the election were held today, while 43% would vote for Trump. Another poll, conducted by the Saint Anselm College Survey Centershowed that Harris was ahead of Trump amongst registered voters by 50% to 44%.
Harris has not yet officially secured the Democratic nomination, but a majority of the party's delegates and probably the most distinguished and influential Democrats have pledged their support. Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle officially endorsed her on Friday morning.
Although there had been rumors of an open process to exchange Biden within the weeks before Biden's exit, Democrats quickly coalesced around Harris. Overall, 78 percent of Democrats in New Hampshire said they would like Harris because the party's nominee, in line with the UNH poll. The Saint Anselm poll found that 94 percent of Democrats support Harris, in comparison with 82 percent who supported Biden in June.
“Harris has reached a level of partisan enthusiasm that Biden has not, particularly among the liberal base,” Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, said in a press release concerning the Saint Anselm poll results. “As Harris takes the lead in the campaign, the shifts in voter perceptions are likely to continue.”
Harris has not been to New Hampshire since being named the presumptive nominee. But Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a preferred Democrat who many see as a possible future presidential candidate herself, campaigned for Harris in Durham on Thursday.
Harris can be gaining ground in national polls. According to the most recent New York Times-Siena College poll, Trump is one percentage point ahead of Harris amongst likely voters. Biden was six percentage points behind Trump within the previous version of the poll.
Harris campaigned tirelessly for Biden within the weeks following his disastrous debate performance, whilst Democrats pressured the 81-year-old to pass the torch. Harris' 2020 presidential campaign and her first few years as vice chairman were perceived as rocky, however the last five months have shown she will be able to win over Americans.
Overall, 46 percent of registered voters have a positive opinion of her, up from 36 percent in February, in line with the NYT/Siena poll. 49 percent of voters now have an unfavorable opinion of her, down from 54 percent within the winter.
In New Hampshire, Harris shouldn’t be highly regarded but has higher approval rankings than Trump, Biden or Trump's running mate JD Vance. The UNH poll found that 39% of voters have a positive opinion of Harris, in comparison with 37% for Trump, 32% for Biden and 30% for Vance.
Voters appear to have made up their minds about Trump either way. In June, the Saint Anselm poll found him at concerning the same approval rating as he does now. He hasn't lost support, but Harris has consolidated a few of the voters who had abandoned Biden. Trump was ahead of Biden at 44% in June, 42% ahead, and Harris has improved on Biden, taking 4 points from minor candidates and 4 points from individuals who said they were “unsure” who they’d vote for.
During July, Biden’s popularity deteriorated a lot that some Democrats reportedly apprehensive that Trump could win New Hampshire in November. The state hasn't been red since 2000, but in 2016 Trump missed winning by half a percentage point. Overall, 47% of voters said they were “relieved” after learning Biden was dropping out of the race, in line with the UNH poll. It found that 22% of Democrats were “happy” after they heard the news, compared with 25% of Republicans who felt the identical.
Since Biden's announcement, some Republicans have called on him to resign from office as well. Overall, 57% of New Hampshire voters consider he “definitely” or “probably” shouldn’t resign before the top of his term, in comparison with 31% who say he “definitely” or “probably” should resign. Biden himself has explicitly stated that he intends to complete his term within the White House.
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