Voters heavily favor Vice President Kamala Harris over Donald Trump when it comes to character, discipline, enthusiasm, and protecting democracy, according to the results of August’s poll from The Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. In this condensed race—just 82 more days!—the Democratic presidential nominee still has ground to make up after President Joe Biden’s sudden decision to step aside, but it is increasingly looking like it’s her race to lose.
Harris beats out the Republican nominee on honesty, 43% to 24%; on vision for the country, 42% to 35%; on commitment to democracy, 48% to 28%; and discipline, 47% to 28%. The poll makes it clear that people just don’t trust Trump. Even among Republicans, his marks for honesty are low, while Democrats express much more faith in Harris.
Just 52% of Republicans think Trump is honest, compared to Harris’ 79% score with Democrats. And 89% of Democrats believe Harris is committed to democracy, while Trump scores with 63% of Republicans.
Harris loses ground when it comes to the characteristics that any woman would likely struggle with among this electorate: handling a crisis and being a strong leader. She also lags behind on certain issues that Biden has struggled with.
Trump has a slight edge on handling the economy (45% to 38%) and a larger one on immigration (46% to 36%). But when it comes to handling issues related to race and racial inequality, abortion policy, and health care, Harris has about 50% support across the board, with Trump trailing about 25 points behind.
A YouGov/Economist poll conducted Aug. 4 to 6 shows much the same results on character issues, with 55% of respondents saying Trump is not honest and untrustworthy. Harris scores about the same with that group as she did in the AP/NORC cohort, at 43%. People tend not to trust politicians in general, and it’s possible that the very presence of known liar Trump on the national stage drags everybody down.
Harris has the edge when it comes to overall character, and she still has time to define herself on the issues and to keep touting the Biden-Harris administration’s strong accomplishments. She’s also got enthusiasm on her side: 67% of voters say they would be excited or satisfied with a Harris win, while 56% said the same about a Trump victory.
“There’s definitely joy and there’s definitely hope, and I feel like that’s something that’s been missing,” Democrat Meaghan Dunfee from New Jersey told AP. “I don’t think we’ve had that in a long time on the Democratic side.”
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