Polls Suggest that Kamala Harris Has Become ‘Generic Democrat’

One way to think about her position is that she has become something like a “generic” Democrat. This may sound like an insult, but it isn’t. In fact, there is nothing more coveted. A generic candidate, no name, almost always does better in the polls than a named candidate, Democrat or Republican, because the named candidate is inevitably burdened by all the flaws that voters learn about during the campaign.

when Voted In the elections held in these three states last October, an unnamed Democratic candidate led Trump by about 10 points, while Trump led Biden and Harris by about one point each. The advantage of another widely accepted Democratic candidate is, of course, merely hypothetical. There was no guarantee that a real-world Democratic candidate would be able to avoid alienating many of the voters who would rather vote for someone other than Trump. And there was no reason to think that Harris was such a Democrat: she was not well-liked by most of the electorate and had many political entanglements from her time as vice president and her failed 2020 presidential campaign.

But Harris’ approval ratings today are a lot like your average, anonymous Democratic presidential candidate. Question after question, the polls found that voters have no major concerns about Harris. Majorities say she is honest, intelligent, will bring about the right change, has the right temperament for president, and has a clear vision for the country. Nor do majorities think she is too far to the left. Only 44 percent of voters say she is too liberal or progressive, 44 percent say she is neutral, and 6 percent say she is not progressive enough. There was no need to ask whether voters think Harris is too old to be president.

of Times This analysis is consistent with my own assessment from July, although Harris has not yet fallen in the polls, perhaps because Republicans are taking their time to evaluate her amid a slow recovery for the Trump campaign.

It’s no surprise that the Democrats are backing Kamala Harris. For now, she’s just the “average Democrat” taking on Trump, and the “average Democrat” has always been a stronger candidate than the ailing Biden. But the more attention she gets, the less popular she will be. Her record is just terrible.

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) July 24, 2024

Harris has received favorable coverage from the mainstream media and has refused to hold a press conference in the three weeks since joining the campaign, giving voters less opportunity to see her let her guard down or go off script.