NEW YORK - US Vice President Kamala Devi Harris is enjoying a bounce in her vulnerability rating among Americans just days after President Joe Biden bowed out of the presidential race and endorsed her, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday. The vice president’s favorability rating has jumped to 43%, with an unavailability rating of 42%, according to the poll conducted using Ipsos’ Knowledge Panel. In an ABC News/Ipsos poll released a week ago, Ms. Harris’ favorability rating was 35%, while 46% viewed her unavailability.
Following Biden’s July 20 announcement that he would end his reelection campaign, most major Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, endorsed Ms. Harris’ run and she hit the campaign trail. The vice president, who has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party if they all honour their commitments when voting.
There have been no discussions of another Democrat challenging Ms. Harris, whose mother was an Indian doctor and father an economics professor from Jamaica, for the nomination and a slight majority of Americans, 52%, say she should be the Democratic nominee, the poll found. This number jumps to 86% among Democrats, compared to 51% of independents and only 20% of Republicans.
Ms. Harris has an edge over former President Donald Trump when it comes to how much enthusiasm Americans feel for them as nominees. Forty-eight percent of Americans say they would feel enthusiastic if Ms. Harris becomes the Democratic nominee. Fewer, 39%, say they are enthusiastic about Trump being the Republican nominee.
Enthusiasm for Ms. Harris as the Democratic nominee peaks among Democrats (88%) and Black Americans (70%). Forty-nine percent of independents express enthusiasm for Harris, whereas only 31% of independents are enthusiastic about Trump. Trump’s favorability rating dropped slightly from 40%, measured in the week following the attempted assassination and the Republican National Convention, to 36% in the most recent poll. Trump’s favourability rating among independents also saw a drop in the last week. Twenty-seven percent of independents have a favorable of Trump, which is down from 35% last week.
Political observers have also been paying a significant amount of attention to a potential swing group of “double haters,” those Americans who have unfavourable views of both Biden and Trump. In the ABC News/Ipsos poll last week, 15% of Americans held unfavourable views of both Trump and Biden. Driven largely by an increase in Ms. Harris’ favourability, the proportion of Americans who dislike both nominees, Ms. Harris and Trump, now has been cut in half to 7%. Turnout will be crucial in the November election contest for the presidency and, compared to an ABC News/Washington Post Poll conducted in early July, there has been an increase in the proportion of Democrats saying they are absolutely certain to vote – going from 70% to 76%.
This is now about equal to the 78% of Republicans who say they are certain to vote in the November contest.
Trump repeatedly bashed Ms. Harris and Democrats on the campaign trail this week and refused to stay committed to the second presidential debate, which would be hosted by ABC News, in September. He also lashed out against President Biden for ending his campaign.
Biden vowed to focus on the final months of his presidency as he “passed the torch” to Ms. Harris during a speech to the nation Wednesday night. The president’s poor debate performance and declining polling numbers pushed many Democrats to call on Biden to end his race.
Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate JD Vance saw no change in his favourability rating in the last week, but the proportion of Americans viewing him unfavourably has increased.
The Ohio senator’s favourability rating is 24%, similar to his 23% rating in last week’s poll. But the proportion viewing him unfavourably has increased from 31% last week to 39% now, according to the poll.
When it comes to potential Democratic vice presidential candidates, the majority of Americans had no opinion or not enough knowledge to make one when it came to several names who have been floated in the last week, including Sentor Mark Kelley, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, the poll found.