Kamala Harris has closed the gap with Donald Trump, but the former president still holds a two-point lead over the new Democratic nominee, according to an exclusive poll for DailyMail.com.
It shows how Joe Biden’s decision to step aside has disrupted the race for the White House.
But while other recent polls show the vice president with a sizable lead, our survey of 1,001 likely voters found that 43 percent would vote for Trump if the election were held tomorrow, compared with 41 percent who would vote for Harris.
With a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent, it sets the stage for a very close election in November.
An independent online poll has revealed the attributes responsible for Trump’s lead. It found that voters still see him as the stronger, more charismatic candidate, with the best chance of getting things done.
JL Partners surveyed 1,001 likely voters between August 7 and 11, using a combination of online, landline, cellphone and app techniques. Results have a margin of error of +/- 3.1 points.
Still, Harris is outperforming Biden on every count, and appears to be a more formidable opponent than the 81-year-old candidate she replaced.
James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners, which conducted the poll, said there were still plenty of positives in the survey for Trump after a difficult period.
‘Don’t get us wrong. Harris has made great strides, especially among young voters and Black voters, and has begun to close the gap with independents.
‘But Trump has an advantage over his base, which remains more energized, and has maintained his position among whites, Hispanics and voters over 50.
‘Harris’ support remains relatively limited to young people between the ages of 18 and 49. Much of this is due to Trump’s dominance on the issues of the economy and the border.’
The result is a closer race, he added, and Trump could fall even further.
“But right now we’re looking at a tighter race, rather than a sure win for Harris,” he said.
“All eyes should now be on independents. If Harris makes further inroads with them, then we could see Trump’s lead disappear.”
Harris was catapulted into the race after Biden announced last month that he was abandoning his re-election campaign.
The poll found that Vice President Kamala Harris has narrowed the gap with former President Donald Trump. She has a two-point lead over her Democratic rival.
Voter attitudes were tested with a completely online survey of 1,054 likely voters.
Trump’s entourage was initially jubilant, expecting weeks of infighting among Democrats. But the party quickly coalesced around the vice president and will show a united front at its convention in Chicago next week.
The result has been a series of polls showing Harris nullifying, or at least controlling, Trump’s clear lead in the polls.
Trump attacked Harris during a conversation with Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X, on Monday night.
“She’s a liberal from San Francisco who destroyed San Francisco, and then as attorney general, destroyed California,” he said.
The charge that Harris is a liberal has found support among voters, who said in our poll that this was their main concern in voting for her.
There is good news for Harris, however, when it comes to voters’ views on key attributes. She fares much better than Biden compared to Trump when it comes to who Americans view as “strong,” “competent” and “standing up for me and my priorities.”
The biggest question voters had was whether she was “liberal” according to our word clouds.
Harris has enjoyed a huge surge in fundraising and a rise in the polls since Biden stepped down.
So while Trump leads Harris by seven points, that compares with a 25 percent gap when Biden was still campaigning.
He also continues to win in ‘gets things done’ by 49 points to 40 points, and in ‘charisma’ by 45 points to 40.
But Harris has widened Biden’s lead in a number of other areas, including “care,” “morals” and “represents me.”
He heads to Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday for his first major political speech since taking over the top spot on the ticket.
He is expected to lay out ways to cut costs for middle-class families, a concern that typically tops voters’ lists, and tackle price gouging by corporations.
Over the weekend, he announced his support for abolishing the tip tax for service workers, following Trump’s lead.
Our poll found the policy was wildly popular, likely outweighing any backlash Harris might feel from copying her opponent’s policy.
