Kamala Harris Continues to Outperform Trump in Personal Attributes and Campaign Performance
Kamala Harris has maintained her lead over Donald Trump in terms of personal attributes and the overall perception of their presidential campaigns, according to a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll. Despite no significant bounce in support for Harris after her nominating convention, the race between them remains close, indicating the highly polarized nature of the contest as it enters its final two months.
In the poll, 56% of Americans believe that Harris has done an excellent or good job running her campaign, compared to only 41% who say the same for Trump. Notably, Harris receives positive ratings from 93% of Democrats and 56% of independents, as well as 24% of Republicans. On the other hand, fewer individuals across all groups view Trump’s campaign positively, with 79% of Republicans, 38% of independents, and 13% of Democrats expressing support.
While Harris did not receive a convention bounce, she has widened the gender gap between her and Trump. Among women, Harris leads by 13 points (54%-41%), while Trump has a 5-point lead among men (51%-46%). This 18-point gender gap is more in line with recent elections, which have seen an average of a 19-point gap in exit polls since 1996.
Harris also holds an advantage in terms of voter satisfaction and expectations. Her supporters are 14 percentage points more likely than Trump’s supporters to be satisfied with the matchup. Additionally, the public, by a 6-point margin, believes that Harris will win the upcoming presidential debate. This confidence is particularly strong among Democrats, with 86% expecting her victory, while 79% of Republicans expect Trump to win. Among independents, Harris holds a 7-point advantage.
Furthermore, Harris leads in terms of the level of concern among her supporters. Seventy-five percent of them consider it a “crisis” if Trump were to be re-elected, which could motivate voter turnout. On the other hand, 67% of Trump supporters see a Harris victory as a crisis.
When it comes to running mates, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is viewed more favorably and is seen as more qualified to take over as president compared to Ohio Senator JD Vance. Americans are divided evenly (49%-50%) in their confidence in Walz’s qualifications, while 57% lack confidence in Vance’s qualifications. Similarly, Walz has a positive favorability rating of 42%-31%, whereas Vance has an unfavorable rating of 32%-44%.
Trump maintains an advantage on the top concerns in the race, including trust to handle the economy, inflation, and the immigration situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. However, Harris benefits from the fact that 46% of respondents consider her to be too liberal, while 43% view Trump as too conservative.
Overall, the horse race between Harris and Trump remains essentially the same as before the Democratic convention, with Harris leading by a slight margin among all adults and a full lead among likely voters. The gender gap has widened, with Harris leading among women and Trump leading among men.
While Harris has retained her lead on personal attributes, favorability, and being seen as qualified for the office, dissatisfaction with both candidates still persists. However, this dissatisfaction has decreased since July when Biden was still in the race.
The ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted online from August 23-27, 2024, with a random national sample of 2,496 adults. The margin of sampling error is 2 percentage points.
