Former President Donald Trump would do a better job of defending democracy than Vice President Kamala Harris, a Washington Post/Schar School poll of key swing states found.
The poll undercuts Harris’s closing argument that Trump is a threat to democracy because he is allegedly unhinged, unstable, and unchecked.
WATCH — Biden: Trump “Really Does Not Believe in Democracy”:
When the pollster asked voters in seven swing states whether Trump or Harris “would do a better job” of “defending against threats to democracy,” a plurality of voters chose Trump:
- Trump: 43 percent
- Harris: 40 percent
Trump was also the preferred candidate on the issues of inflation (16 points), the economy (15 points), immigration (15 points), and crime (10 points).
Harris led on the issues of health care and abortion, two issues that are of less importance to voters, according to polling.
The WaPo poll sampled 5,016 registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin from September 30 to October 15 with a 1.7 percentage point margin of error.
Polling shows Harris lost momentum in the past weeks while using the “campaign of joy.” Her new strategy appears to be the use of President Joe Biden’s 2020 and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 playbook that demonizes Trump.
Politico Playbook reported the shift on Friday:
You can see the change on the campaign trail, where Harris’ early emphasis on joy has given way to more direct verbal attacks on Trump, including playing video of him, AP’s Zeke Miller and Steve Karnowski report from La Crosse. You can see it on the airwaves, where a new Harris ad calls Trump “unhinged,” “unstable” and “unchecked” in a second term, NBC’s Monica Alba scooped. (Interestingly, this is all a bit of a return to Biden’s old anti-Trump messaging.) Reuters’ Jeff Mason and Nandita Bose report that the broader Harris strategy shift is an effort to play up her prosecutorial image and project strength to gain support from men and Republicans.
WATCH — Harris-Walz Co-Chair: Don’t Blame Us for Trump Assassination Attempt, “We’ve Always Said” He’s a Threat to Democracy:
The reused attacks on Trump, however, do not present voters with a unifying message that candidates often transition to in the final weeks of presidential campaigns, underscoring the Harris campaign’s desperation.
“When Donald Trump repeatedly lies or cheats or shows utter disregard for our Constitution, or just insults people … people make excuses for it. They say, ‘He’s not serious.’ Everything a president says is serious,” former President Barack Obama attacked Trump.
“One of the most disturbing things about this election, about Trump’s rise in politics — we seem to have set aside the values that so many of us were taught,” he added.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
