Pollster Frank Luntz said Wednesday on CNN that Vice President Kamala Harris’ honeymoon phase “looks like it has reached its peak,” as she now holds an estimated three-point lead.
After becoming the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, major swing state-polls between Harris and former President Donald Trump began to tighten. While on “CNN News Central,” Luntz emphasized the importance of swing states before stating that Trump has “missed the mark” on discussing issues voters “care about.”
“I want to emphasize this to every viewer who thinks I‘m anti-Trump or anti-Harris, if you talk about things that voters don‘t care about, they‘re not going to vote for you. Donald Trump is already talking about this election being stolen. You can’t steal something that you gave away,” Luntz said.
“I’ve never seen the candidates [sic] more missed the mark than Trump has. His advertising is exceptional, it‘s very explicit and very clear,” Luntz continued. “But in terms of he himself, he‘s all over the map and he deserves the fact that he’s been falling.”
Luntz continued to state, however, despite the “boomlet” the Harris campaign has had within the polls, he warned she now has the same “advantage” former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had before Trump beat her in 2016.
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“But again, I have to give you one caveat and then I‘ll be quiet. He‘s actually stopped falling. Even though they had a pretty strong convention last week, it looks like the Harris boomlet has reached its peak — with her having roughly a three point advantage,” Luntz said. “I remind you that that was the advantage that Hillary Clinton had over Donald Trump on Election Day 2016 and he still beat her in the electoral college. This election is way too close to call.”
A poll conducted by The New York Times/Siena College in early August showed Harris leading Trump 50% to 46% in key swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania—all crucial for Trump’s November bid.
Recent polling from RealClearPolitics shows the former president leading by a slim margin between .2% and 1.4% in the battleground states of Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. Comparatively, Harris is leading Trump in both Wisconsin and Michigan by 1% and 2%, respectively, according to data from RCP.
However, Harris has faced pushback from both sides after unveiling her economic plans in mid-August. Political pundits have called out her goals of addressing “price gouging” by large corporations amid rising grocery costs, saying her plan for a federal ban could not only increase prices, but create black markets.
Additionally, the vice president has been criticized for failing to release an official policy platform after the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and for not sitting for an in-depth interview with the press.
Featured Image Credit: Lawrence Jackson
