American politics is teetering on a knife’s edge, with citizens seeing political candidates as potential menaces to the nation’s well-being. The looming question is, who stirs up more anxiety among voters, Kamala Harris or Donald Trump? Recent data from a CNN/SSRS poll conducted in pivotal swing states astonishingly suggest that it is Trump, not Harris, that voters worry over. An average of 54% of respondents labeled Trump as ‘radical’ while 46% labeled him as a ‘danger to the country.’ Meanwhile, Harris received similar labels from 44% and 39% of voters respectively. These responses were culled from six key battleground states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Interestingly, the apprehension towards Trump is mirrored among Independent voters, with approximately 47% deeming him a threat to America, a sentiment only shared by a lesser 38% towards Harris. How does the Republican side of the aisle view this? A noticeable 14% consider Trump excessively extreme and 7% perceive him as a risk to the nation, showcasing an alarming lack of confidence in their own party’s candidate, compared to the rather meager 2% and 6% of Democrats who think the same of Harris.
Looking at it through the lens of the electorate in individual states, the difference becomes clearer, with Harris outperforming Trump in some states while trailing in others. In Wisconsin, for instance, Harris tallies at 50% compared to Trump’s 44%. Meanwhile, in Michigan, voters also prefer Harris with a score of 48%, leaving Trump lagging at 43%.
Georgia is witness to a tighter race, where Harris nudges a minor lead with 48% to Trump’s 47%, an essentially similar situation occurs in Nevada with Harris again leading by one percentage point. The voters of Pennsylvania, on the other hand, seem divided equally between the two candidates, with each candidate securing 47% of voters’ confidence.
In Arizona, the tables turn slightly in favor of Trump with him holding 49% of the projected votes, leaving Harris straggling behind at 44%. These diverging loyalties highlight an incredibly polarized political climate as voters weigh up their choices ahead of the upcoming polls.
In the fore of the first presidential debate, each nominee is honing their economic platforms, marketing them as the best possible deal for the middle-class citizen. Harris seemed to lean more towards turning her rhetoric into hard proposals during her recent campaign trail in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Despite her senatorial past where she was notorious for pushing wealthier Americans and big corporations to pay more taxes, Harris seemed to flip the script during her stop in New Hampshire. Her newfound enthusiasm for tax benefits for smaller businesses comes off as a flagrant bid to woo entrepreneurs, a demographic she had previously largely ignored.
Trump, in contrast, will be addressing the Economic Club of New York soon, touting his faith in bottomless tax cuts. He appears to bank on this strategy, assuming Americans hanker for a sea of tax cuts and that ensuing economic growth will erase worries about budget deficits. This approach, although appealing to some, seems overly simplistic and potentially disastrous to others.
The two political titans are set to go head to head in their first official debate scheduled for next week. The focal swing state, Pennsylvania, will begin in-person absentee voting in the following week. By the end of the month, early voting will commence in at least four more battleground states.
In less than ten weeks from now, the ultimate Electoral Day will dawn, with the choice between Trump and Harris dictating the future course of the most powerful country in the world. Irrefutable proof that the stakes are at a historical high.