{"id":2340539,"date":"2024-09-13T07:07:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T11:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taunting-trump-might-not-have-been-what-undecided-voters-wanted-to-see-from-harris-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-13T07:10:12","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T11:10:12","slug":"taunting-trump-might-not-have-been-what-undecided-voters-wanted-to-see-from-harris-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taunting-trump-might-not-have-been-what-undecided-voters-wanted-to-see-from-harris-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Taunting Trump might not have been what undecided voters wanted to see from Harris &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftaunting-trump-might-not-have-been-what-undecided-voters-wanted-to-see-from-harris-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2340539&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses Vice\u200d President Kamala\u2064 Harris&#8217;s \u2062debate performance against\u200b former President Donald Trump, highlighting\u2062 a contrast with President Joe\u200d Biden&#8217;s earlier performance. Despite Harris&#8217;s efforts to rattle Trump and draw \u2064attention\u2063 to\u2063 his negatives \u2062during \u200cthe debate,\u2064 polling data indicates that\u200d undecided voters did not perceive her performance as a decisive win. Pollsters \u200bfrom Trump&#8217;s campaign \u2064reported that support for Harris remained flat, with a slight bump in favor of Trump in subsequent polls.<\/p>\n<p>Focus groups \u2064of undecided \u200bvoters showed that \u200bwhile they recognized Harris&#8217;s ability to provoke Trump, many felt she did not adequately present policies or address \u2064key issues. The \u200carticle also notes that Harris continues to struggle with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-signals-support-for-amazon-workers-vote-to-unionize\/\" title=\"Biden Signals Support For Amazon Workers\u2019 Vote To Unionize\">working-class voters<\/a>, trailing Trump significantly among this demographic. Ultimately, while Harris\u200c may have energized her Democratic base, the effectiveness of\u2063 her debate strategy in winning over undecided voters remains questionable, underscoring the challenges she\u200d faces in the upcoming election.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Taunting Trump might not have been what undecided voters wanted to see from Harris<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1758731\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Vice President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Kamala Harris<\/a> is being lauded for her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/debates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>debate performance<\/a> against former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> on Tuesday night, in sharp contrast with President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Joe Biden<\/a> back in June.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The question now becomes whether Harris&rsquo;s well-executed plan of irritating Trump and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3150242\/harris-moderators-make-second-debate-more-about-trump\/\">joining with the moderators<\/a> and Trump himself to draw attention to his negatives was what the voters she most needs really wanted.<\/p>\n<p>Trump pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Travis Tunis say that, according to their data from the top seven battleground states, the answer is no. &ldquo;We found that despite the best efforts of Kamala Harris and [the] media to portray the debate as some kind of overwhelming win for her, voters did not see it this way as support for her remained flat,&rdquo; they wrote in a memo released on Thursday. &ldquo;The only change we saw was a 2-point bump for President Trump in both ballot configurations.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In our post-debate data, President Trump leads Vice President Harris by 2-points, 48% &ndash; 46%, and in the head-to-head ballot, he is up 3-points, 50% &ndash; 47%,&rdquo; Fabrizio and Tunis continued. &ldquo;Clearly, target state voters were not impressed by Kamala Harris&rsquo; empty platitudes and while the media would have people believe she is cruising to victory, this couldn&rsquo;t be farther from the truth.&rdquo; Their predebate numbers, they said, showed the two candidates tied.<\/p>\n<p>You would perhaps expect this take from the Trump campaign. More independent numbers are needed, as well as more time for the voters to digest the debate. But focus groups of undecided voters convened by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/politics\/elections\/harris-trump-debate-who-won-voters-react-946ad11e?mod=hp_lead_pos8\"><em>Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/11\/us\/politics\/undecided-voters-react-debate.html\"><em>New York Times<\/em><\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/some-undecided-voters-not-convinced-by-harris-after-debate-with-trump-2024-09-11\/\"><em>Reuters<\/em><\/a><em> <\/em>found them unmoved, even if they agreed that Harris succeeded in rattling Trump.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;She baited him and he fell for it. That was disappointing,&rdquo; a 47-year-old unemployed independent woman told the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em>. &ldquo;But as far as Kamala is concerned, I didn&rsquo;t see a lot of policy. She seemed to dodge some of the major questions or go back to rebutting whatever Trump just said.&rdquo; This Arizona voter had supported independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. but was now reluctantly leaning toward Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The disconnect might well be that what Harris accomplished in the debate &mdash;&nbsp;zinging Trump, avenging Biden&rsquo;s candidacy-ending loss, defending abortion &mdash; did more to excite voters already committed to her, while exasperating Republicans who wish the former president was more disciplined, than it did to attract angry and disaffected undecideds.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Exciting the Democratic base, demoralizing Republicans, and getting positive post-debate headlines aren&rsquo;t bad things for a candidate locked in a close race. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolling.com\/polls\/president\/general\/2024\/trump-vs-harris\"><em>RealClearPolitics <\/em>national polling average<\/a> has Harris up by 1.5 points. But it might not be the knockout blow she seeks.<\/p>\n<p>Predebate polling suggested that voters were looking for additional information about Harris much more than Trump, who at this point is a familiar figure whose foibles are well worn.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s possible that the voters Harris needed to convince won&rsquo;t be reached by the same kind of debate moments that titillate partisan Democrats and political professionals of all stripes.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2024\/09\/08\/us\/politics\/times-siena-poll-likely-electorate-crosstabs.html\">latest <em>New York Times<\/em>\/Siena poll<\/a> has Harris trailing Trump among working-class (noncollege) voters by 17 points,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liberalpatriot.com\/p\/harris-working-class-problem?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=239058&amp;post_id=148793213&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=2dyylb&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email\">writes<\/a> Ruy Teixeira, a longtime Democratic political scientist and commentator now affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s identical to Biden&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dems-are-losing-a-key-voting-bloc\/\" title=\"Dems Are Losing a Key Voting Bloc\">working-class deficit<\/a> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2024\/06\/26\/us\/elections\/times-siena-poll-likely-electorate-crosstabs.html\">last <em>NYT<\/em> poll<\/a> before he dropped out and way worse than Biden&rsquo;s deficit among these voters in 2020 &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/t7i2c2tgu7w84g08p6cim\/Catalist_What_Happened_2022_Public_National_Crosstabs_2023_05_18.xlsx?rlkey=rv64n9kk0cx4pcaf9hdd7wolg&amp;e=1&amp;dl=0\">a mere 4 points<\/a>. More detailed <em>NYT<\/em> results reveal that Harris, relative to Biden in 2020, is doing 10 points worse among <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-republicans-take-9-point-lead-with-hispanics-support-from-black-voters-more-than-doubles-now-27-percent\/\" title=\"Poll: Republicans Take 9-Point Lead with Hispanics, Support from Black Voters More than Doubles \u2014 Now 27 Percent\">white working-class voters<\/a> and 18 points worse among nonwhite working-class voters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The simple message from focus groups who watched this debate was that your performance was not fatal,&rdquo; influential conservative radio talk show host Erick Erickson wrote in an open letter to Trump. &ldquo;You can still win this race. All you need to do is focus on why Kamala Harris has not done what she claims she will.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>That was Trump&rsquo;s message in his closing statement. But he meandered for most of the rest of the bout.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now Trump is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3152769\/trump-declares-not-be-third-debate-days-contest-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>ruling out a third debate<\/a>, while Harris is clamoring for another. That would seem like an acknowledgment from both candidates that what happened Tuesday night worked for Harris. Trump naturally disagrees, posting on social media, &ldquo;When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, &lsquo;I WANT A REMATCH.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Harris did what she set out to do at the debate. Whether it was the right thing to do remains to be seen.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1758731\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1758731\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mocking Trump may not have aligned with the expectations of undecided voters. Vice President Kamala Harris received praise for her debate performance against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday night, which stands in stark contrast to President Joe Biden&#8217;s earlier performance in June. The key question now is whether Harris&#8217;s strategy of provoking Trump and collaborating with the moderators to highlight his shortcomings resonated with the voters she needs most. According to pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Travis Tunis, their data from seven critical battleground states suggests it did not. They noted in a memo released Thursday that despite efforts by Harris and the media to frame the debate as a significant victory for her, voter support remained unchanged. Instead, they observed a 2-point increase for Trump across various ballot scenarios.<\/p>\n<p>In their post-debate analysis, they reported that Trump led Harris by 2 points at 48% to 46%, and had a 3-point advantage in head-to-head matchups at 50% to 47%. They concluded that voters in target states were unimpressed by what they termed &#8220;Harris\u2019s empty platitudes,&#8221; contradicting media narratives suggesting she was on track for victory.<\/p>\n<p>While pre-debate polling indicated a tie between the candidates, independent assessments are needed alongside more time for voter reflection on the debate outcomes. Focus groups of undecided voters organized by outlets like The Wall Street Journal and New York Times found them largely unaffected by Harris&#8217;s performance; although some acknowledged her ability to unsettle Trump, many felt she lacked substantive policy discussion.<\/p>\n<p>One Arizona voter expressed disappointment over what she perceived as evasiveness from Harris regarding major questions while focusing instead on rebutting Trump&#8217;s statements. This individual had previously supported independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but was now leaning toward Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The disconnect may stem from how Harris\u2019s debate tactics\u2014attacking Trump and defending abortion rights\u2014appealed more to her existing supporters rather than attracting disillusioned undecided voters who might prefer more disciplined discourse from Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>Energizing Democratic supporters while demoralizing Republicans can be beneficial for any candidate engaged in a tight race; currently, national polling averages show Harris leading slightly at 1.5 points. However, this may not deliver the decisive impact she seeks since pre-debate surveys indicated that voters were more interested in learning about her than about Trump\u2014a figure already familiar due to his past controversies.<\/p>\n<p>Ruy Teixeira highlighted troubling trends among working-class (non-college) voters where recent polls show Harris trailing behind Trump by an alarming margin of 17 points\u2014similar to Biden\u2019s standing before he exited his campaign\u2014and significantly worse compared to Biden&#8217;s numbers during the last election cycle among both white and nonwhite working-class demographics.<\/p>\n<p>Influential conservative commentator Erick Erickson suggested that Trump&#8217;s focus should shift towards questioning why Kamala has failed to fulfill her promises rather than dwelling solely on his own performance during debates\u2014a sentiment echoed during Trump&#8217;s closing remarks despite him wandering off-topic throughout much of it.<\/p>\n<p>As discussions arise about future debates\u2014with Harris eager for another round while Trump appears hesitant\u2014it indicates differing perceptions of success following their encounter Tuesday night; however, opinions diverge sharply between both candidates regarding its effectiveness moving forward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2659,"featured_media":2340540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Kamala-Harris-in-NC.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4021,32504,3634,33182,32076],"class_list":["post-2340539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-harris","tag-political-strategy","tag-trump","tag-undecided-voters","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Kamala-Harris-in-NC.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2340539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2340540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2340539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2340539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2340539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}