Harris stalls as joy fades to reality

Story by Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner

Nearly two months after President Joe Biden quit his reelection effort and backed Vice President Kamala Harris, the public has stopped buying the media-fueled euphoria for her, freezing the campaign in place.

In the latest Rasmussen Reports survey shared with Secrets on Thursday, the head-to-head race is exactly where it was before last week’s debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Trump leads 49%-47%, and other surveys have him up in battleground states.

“This is our first survey to fully reflect the impact of the September 10 televised debate between the two candidates, and there has been no major change since last week, when Trump held the same 49% to 47% lead over Harris,” the survey analysis said.

The biggest change since the debate, Rasmussen said, has been Harris’s gain with independent voters. “Among voters not affiliated with either major party, Trump gets 49% to Harris’s 45%. In last week’s survey, Trump led by 12 points among unaffiliated voters,” the analysis said.

The media have tried to bolster Harris, who has done a historically low number of interviews for a presidential candidate. The stalled polling suggests that voters have caught on and are now looking for more beef from the candidate.

The sizable survey of 1,855 likely voters from Rasmussen confirms others that the race is close, if not tied. A New York Times survey out on Thursday has the race even at 47% each.

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Rasmussen pollster Mark Mitchell has recently started posting overnight results of the 2024 horse race, and Trump has been trending in front of Harris, though the numbers bounce around a lot.

For example, in his Wednesday results, Trump was ahead of Harris, 52%-44%. For accuracy, he takes several days and averages the results before posting a weekly campaign update on Thursdays.