Reuters :
Democratic US Vice President Kamala Harris held a marginal 46 per cent to 43 per cent lead over Republican former President Donald Trump, with a glum electorate saying the country is on the wrong track, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
Harris’ lead in the six-day poll, which closed on Monday, differed little from her 45 per cent to 42 per cent advantage over Trump in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted a week earlier, reinforcing the view that the contest is extraordinarily tight with just two weeks left before the Nov 5 election.
Both polls showed Harris with a lead within the margin of error, with the latest poll showing her ahead just 2 percentage points when using unrounded figures.
The new poll showed that voters have a dim view of the state of the economy and immigration – and they generally favor Trump’s approach on these issues.
Some 70 per cent of registered voters in the poll said their cost of living was on the wrong track, while 60 per cent said the economy was heading in the wrong direction and 65 per cent said the same of immigration policy.
Voters also said the economy and immigration, together with threats to democracy, were the country’s most important problems. Asked which candidate had the better approach on the issues, Trump led on the economy – 46 per cent to 38 per cent – and on immigration by 48 per cent to 35 per cent.
Immigration also ranked as the No. 1 issue when respondents were asked what the next president should focus on most in their first 100 days in office. Some 35 per cent picked immigration, with 11 per cent citing income inequality and equal 10 per cent shares citing healthcare and taxes.
But Trump fared poorly on the question of which candidate was better to address political extremism and threats to democracy, with Harris leading 42 per cent to 35 per cent. She also led on abortion policy and on healthcare policy.
Harris’ lead over Trump might not be enough to win the election even if it holds through Nov 5.
National surveys, including Reuters/Ipsos polls, give important signals on the views of the electorate, but the state-by-state results of the Electoral College determine the winner, with seven battleground states likely to be decisive.
