In a new shock poll, Donald Trump appears to have taken a firm grip over the swing states, at least according to one of the top pollsters.
The New York Times writes that “voters across the Sun Belt say that Donald J. Trump improved their lives when he was president — and worry that a Kamala Harris White House would not — setting the stage for an extraordinarily competitive contest in three key states, according to the latest polls from The New York Times and Siena College.
The polls found that Mr. Trump has gained a lead in Arizona and remains ahead in Georgia, two states that he lost to President Biden in 2020. But in North Carolina, which has not voted for a Democrat since 2008, Ms. Harris trails Mr. Trump by just a narrow margin.
The polls of these three states, taken from Sept. 17 to 21, presented further evidence that in a sharply divided nation, the presidential contest is shaping up to be one of the tightest in history.
Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina are on the roster of seven battleground states where the focus of both the Trump and Harris campaigns has been since Labor Day. Ms. Harris has shown relative strength in several key states across the Midwest, including, most critically to her hopes of becoming president, Pennsylvania.”
The New York Times poll contradicts other polling services, but could be revealing a shift in sentiment now that the election has gotten on more of the radars of voters.
NBC News, for example, pushed the idea that Kamala Harris, the sitting vice president, is the “change” candidate. The outlet noted that “a double-digit increase in popularity, rising Democratic enthusiasm and an early edge for representing “change” have vaulted Vice President Kamala Harris forward and reshuffled the 2024 presidential contest, according to a new national NBC News poll.
With just over six weeks until Election Day, the poll finds Harris with a 5-point lead over former President Donald Trump among registered voters, 49% to 44%. While that result is within the margin of error, it’s a clear shift from July’s poll, when Trump was ahead by 2 points before President Joe Biden’s exit.
But the transformation in the presidential contest goes well beyond the horse race. For starters, Harris’ favorability has jumped 16 points since July, the largest increase for any politician in NBC News polling since then-President George W. Bush’s standing surged after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
And in a contest between a sitting vice president and an ex-president, featuring an electorate that overwhelmingly thinks the U.S. is “on the wrong track,” Harris has the upper hand on which candidate better represents change and which candidate can get the country headed in the right direction.”
Helped by a massive effort from supporters in mainstream media, including help in the debates, Harris has been working diligently to claim the “change” mantle even as she currently holds power.
The contradictory polling could come from the fact that Harris has thus far refused to do interviews explaining her vision or why she has changed her views on so many issues. Voters have expressed exasperation over her hiding, and some of her staunch allies have criticized her economic plans.
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