‘The upside for Harris is huge’: Democratic poll finds Kamala needs to define her brand quickly

A Democratic pollster is urging Vice President Kamala Harris to counteract impressions that she’s too liberal or too soft on immigration, after a snap poll identified some of her biggest potential vulnerabilities.

“Voters have a very limited perception of Harris: liberal, prosecutor,” said Blueprint lead pollster Evan Roth Smith, who surveyed 1537 registered voters on July 21 and 22. “Their concerns are largely limited to standard concerns over being left-leaning generally, and some specific immigration concerns, all of which can be quickly assuaged by proactive early signaling.”

The polling, shared first with Semafor, found Harris starting the general election with some big strengths on social issues. Asked what issue they associated with Harris, 52% said “abortion and birth control,” a sign that the vice president’s years-long campaigning against the Dobbs decision had sunk in.

Harris was weaker on public safety issues, with 32% of voters citing “crime” and 29% citing “immigration and the border” when asked for an association. Fifty percent of independents worried that Harris would let migrants cross the border illegally. Latino voters, narrowly, trusted Trump more than Harris on immigration, continuing a pattern that showed up in post-2021 polling that tested President Biden in a rematch with Trump.

Republicans have already promised to focus on those issues as they work to define Harris. But Blueprint found an opening for the vice president on economic issues. Harris and Trump were tied, 50-50, when voters were asked which candidate would do a better job “bringing down prices” on goods and services.

“The upside for Harris is huge: voters do not hold her accountable for Biden’s perceived failures on inflation, and she can run hard on economic messaging,” said Roth Smith.