A new poll from Boston University suggests that the Democratic National Convention damaged former President Donald Trump's image among independents but did nothing to improve that of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The poll may help explain why Harris' approval rating did not “surge” after the convention, despite favorable media coverage: There was plenty of talk about a newfound “euphoria” among delegates, but the message was anti-Trump, not pro-Kamala.
a press release The Boston University researchers said their findings suggested that while Democrats were successful in highlighting the negative aspects of Trump to voters, they failed to associate the positive with him at their convention.
“The change in how independents perceive Donald Trump before and after the DNC is really striking,” said Ann Dannehy, a former pollster and associate professor of practice in political campaigns at Boston University's School of Communication. “The DNC did a lot to tarnish Trump's image, but that positive image didn't translate to Harris.”
Dannehy added: “The Harris-Waltz campaign must develop a strategy to convert independents into supporters of the Harris-Waltz campaign. Independents need a reason to vote for the Harris-Waltz campaign beyond being anti-Trump. Without that, disillusioned independents may stay home on Election Day.”
The online poll of 1,005 American adults, conducted around the time of last month's convention in Chicago, Illinois, had a margin of error (“confidence interval”) of 3.5 percentage points.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump's presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
