Vice President Kamala Harris has cash, endorsements and now a favorability rating that is above water. Polling reveals Harris has been on an upward trajectory ever since she became the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee.
An ABC News poll found her favorability rating jumped eight points in a week, moving from 35% to 43%. Pollsters also said adults who view her unfavorably dropped to 42% from 46%.
The numbers put her ahead of former President Donald Trump in this category. The same ABC News poll found Trump’s favorability rating dropped during the same time period to 36%, while 52% of adults view him unfavorably.
A Fox News poll found the two candidates are neck and neck in key battleground states. The rivals are tied in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Trump is up one point in Wisconsin while Harris is up by six in Minnesota.
Conservative critics of the vice president say her new momentum is simply a honeymoon period after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Democratic strategist James Carville echoed a similar message and said Democrats need to be careful.
“But we gotta be a little careful,” Carville said on MSNBC. “There’s about 10% too much triumphalism going on. You know it’s going to be a very difficult race, it’s going to be very close. I understand that people are feeling a lot better and excited, but that excitement has got to be tempered with realism.”
Meanwhile, conservative columnist Peggy Noonan is warning Republicans to take Harris more seriously.
“I had long thought Kamala Harris couldn’t beat Donald Trump,” Noon wrote in The Wall Street Journal. “That’s wrong. She can.”
“Ms. Harris has not, in five years on the national stage, shown competence,” Noon continued. “She is showing it now, and that is big news. Her rollout this week demonstrated talent and hinted she may be a real political athlete.”
It appears voters will have an opportunity to measure the candidates side-by-side. Both Harris and Trump agreed to debate, but the date has not been confirmed. Harris wants to go with the previously scheduled ABC News event that Trump agreed to with Biden for Sept. 10, while Trump now says Fox should host.
