It’s no secret that the Democrats are poised to lose some seats in this year’s midterm elections… but the Democrats may also be dealing with more long-term problems.
Vice President Kamala Harris has dealt with anemic polling during her tenure as vice president, but even Harris herself might be shocked at this new Harvard/Harris Poll.
If the election were held today, the poll respondents would choose former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris by 10 points. That’s a landslide.
Respondents would also vote for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Harris by one point, despite showing much more familiarity with Harris. In other words, voters are likely to break even harder for DeSantis if they gain some more familiarity with him.
Only seven percent of respondents would vote for Harris in a Democratic primary today. They barely put her in the top five candidates. In fact, they ranked Harris as low as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Harris is the sitting vice president. She should be winning the nomination in a walk! Instead, she’s polling alongside a spent force in our politics and an 80-year-old “socialist” recovering from a heart attack.
Plus, a whopping 51 percent of respondents viewed Harris unfavorably. They rated her more favorably than Biden but less favorably than disgraced newscaster Chris Cuomo.
In terms of popularity, the vice president usually tracks her party and her president.
In that regard, Harris has even more reason to worry.
A measly 40 percent of respondents approved of the Democrat Party, with only 15 strongly approving. By contrast, 48 percent approved of the Republican Party. 17 percent strongly approved, and 31 percent somewhat approved.
Even fewer (39 percent) approved of Joe Biden.
Only 16 percent of respondents would vote for Biden in a Democratic primary today. On the whole, the respondents ranked Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., as their second choice. In other words, they chose a senator known for holding up Biden’s agenda.
Respondents no longer trusted Biden on some key issues, like virus control and job growth. Only 44 percent approved of Biden’s action (and inaction) on the pandemic. Half of respondents even disapproved. Previously, Americans had rated the pandemic as one of Biden’s stronger issues.
The respondents rated Biden even lower on every issue, including jobs, management, and — especially — Afghanistan.
It doesn’t stop there.
47 percent felt expressed certainty in Biden’s mental fitness, and 53 percent admitted to “doubts about his fitness.” Plus, 61 percent considered Biden to be showing his age when faced with the demands of the U.S. presidency.
The respondents rated Biden even lower on every issue, including jobs, management, and — especially — Afghanistan.
In other words, voters may be breaking from the Democrats, just as they did when choosing Republicans for every statewide office in Virginia last year.
The pollsters released 260 pages of data. So, there’s a lot to behold… and to revel in.
They reached out to 1,815 registered voters online between Wednesday and Thursday. According to the designers, the respondents come from a representative sample, with respect to “age within gender, region, race/ethnicity, marital status, household size, income, employment, political party, political ideology, and education.”
The Horn editorial team