CHICAGO — A month ago, the Republican National Convention ended with balloons, cheers and a euphoric sensation that the 2024 presidential election was over. This week, as the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago, it feels like a whole new election.
President Joe Biden will make an appearance in the convention’s opening session Monday evening, but instead of accepting the party’s nomination, he will make the case for his hand-picked successor, Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a matter of weeks, ever since Biden abandoned his reelection effort and endorsed Harris in late July, the Democratic Party rallied behind Harris and reshaped the race. Instead of waiting until this week’s convention to nominate her, Democrats held a virtual delegate vote in early August. Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, embarked on a cross-country tour of swing states to stoke Democratic enthusiasm. And after months of Biden’s plummeting performance in the polls, Harris has taken her place as the early favorite: edging ahead of former president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, with less than three months to go until Election Day.
Nominating conventions are often choreographed and insular, and this will likely be no different. But it will simultaneously be Harris’ first real test as the nominee — marking whether she will run on the record of the Biden administration, or offer Americans a new chapter. Will she run as the incumbent, or continue to pitch herself as the underdog?
Americans down on economy, but Harris doesn’t appear to be getting the blame
While polls show growing enthusiasm for Harris’ candidacy, a new Deseret News/HarrisX poll shows continued pessimism toward the state of the country and the economy.
According to the poll, only 27% of U.S. voters say the country is on the right track, compared to 62% who say it is on the wrong track. When asked specifically about the U.S. economy, the figures are similar: 30% of U.S. voters say the economy is on the right track, while 61% say it is on the wrong track.
When asked what is the most important issue facing the country today, two of the most frequent responses dealt with the economy: price increases and inflation (30%) and the economy and jobs (26%). Immigration (30%) was also in the top three.
Such polling figures often reflect poorly on the incumbent administration. But Harris, three weeks into her campaign as the presumptive Democratic nominee, has so far managed to avoid the baggage that would traditionally accompany such an unpopular performance on the economy.
Harris unveiled parts of her economic plan during a speech Friday. She pledged to work with Congress to ban “price gouging” on food and groceries; proposed assistance for first-time homebuyers; and pledged a $6,000 tax credit for families with a child under the age of one.
Many of Harris’ proposals mirror Biden’s 2020 policy agenda and the priorities of the Biden-Harris administration, like caps on prescription drug prices and providing health care subsidies. And although the White House emphasized there “has not been any daylight” between Harris’ and Biden’s policy priorities over the past three-and-a-half years, Harris’ approval rating in the poll outpaces Biden’s: 46% of respondents strongly or somewhat approve of the job Harris is doing, while only 40% approve of Biden’s performance. While none of the candidates are above water on their favorability, among independent voters, Harris’ favorability rating is ahead both Biden’s and Trump’s: 42% of independents said they had a favorable view of Harris, while only 33% said the same of Trump and 32% of Biden.
During the four-day convention, that discrepancy will come into focus. Harris will either sell voters on the victories of the Biden-Harris administration, or she will convince them she is offering a new, better way. So far, the Harris campaign has attempted to do both: she has continually called herself the “underdog” in the race and promised change, even as the Democratic platform still lists Biden’s name atop it.
