The Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump narrowly surpassed his Democrat rival Kamala Harris in a national survey that was polled during the weekend by the Wall Street Journal. This could likely be due to voters’ increasingly positive outlook on Trump’s agenda and his past administration, while Kamala Harris’s popularity went down among voters.
The survey shows that Trump has been on the leading side with 47-45% favorability, a two percentage point over Harris which also had in the same leading point in the August survey. Both surveys included a third-party and independent candidate. Still, both party’s results are still within a margin of error, meaning that the actual result could go either way.
Among the reasons Harris may have fallen out may be a stream of controversial campaign advertisements that have eroded any good impression she has gained since her nomination as a Democrat candidate.
Harris’s favorability has been on a decline since August. Right now Harris’ negative outlook has been dominating the poll by eight percentage points or 53-45%. Meanwhile, Harris’s performance as vice president got the worst rating with 54% disapproval.
Trump, on the other hand, received more support on a poll, due to voters’ increasingly favorable view of his time as president, with a 52% approval rating.
Trump’s economic plan gained a solid edge over Harris’s in the poll. Trump’s agenda and policy had 10 points more positive outlook than negative outlook, while Harris’s economic plan’s unfavorability offset favorability by four points.
Both candidates have spent an extensive amount on campaign advertisements to create a good impression on candidates, especially in Harris’ case as she is a largely unknown figure to voters. Trump has spent at least $378 million on broadcast, cable, radio, and online adverts since late August. AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm reported that the majority of Trump’s ads are aimed at casting Harris as too liberal. While Harris and her allies have spent over $625 million on introducing her in a more positive light to voters.
