Vice President Kamala Harris has gained more ground on former President Donald Trump in the quest for the White House, but one pollster is warning Democrats not to pop the champagne just yet.
Political commentator Karl Rove is calling the bluff on Harris’ “honeymoon” phase in the polls, which show her up significantly compared to Trump. He said that even though she is in the lead, it might not be enough to defeat the former president in November.
“On this day in 2020, Joe Biden was up 7.1% above Donald Trump in the Real Clear Politics average. And at this point in 2016, Hillary Clinton was up 6.3%. As you remember, the election came down to a handful of votes in a handful of states," Rove said, adding that Harris is "nowhere near ahead by the numbers that both Biden and Clinton were in" during the 2016 and 2020 presidential run.
A recent Real Clear Politics poll found that Harris is ahead by 1.5 percentage points. However, it is essential to note that during Trump’s 2016 campaign against the twice-failed Democrat presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton, nearly all polls showed her defeating Trump just days before election day. In addition, the night before the 2016 election, a New York Times survey claimed that Trump was losing by 16 percent.
Democrat pollster Julian Epstein noted, “If the polling errors are anywhere close to what they were in 2016 and 2020, then Trump is in the lead right now.”
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 43 percent of likely voters support Trump’s economic plans, compared to Harris’ 40 percent—two weeks after the vice president announced her economic plans for the future of the U.S.
“People want to know where you're coming from, and they want to know enough about the specifics to get their hands around it,” Rove said regarding Harris’ policy plans. “[Harris] needs to be more specific.”
The Reuters/Ipsos poll also found that Trump holds the advantage regarding immigration but is tied with Harris on crime at 40 percent.