In the final month leading up to Election Day, Kamala Harris is tackling a monumental task that could make or break her prospects: erasing Donald Trump’s continued lead among voters they trust to manage the economy.
While Harris has gained ground on managing the economy, Trump still leads in most polls on the issue that voters care about most. The Harris campaign and Democratic allies believe he should chip away at that lead and at least fight a tie.
“In four weeks, we’ll focus on the laser and talk about it,” the Harris aide said.
The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss strategy, said Harris and his team will spend the final stretch of the campaign building on his upbringing and agenda, casting him as a candidate who fights for the middle class while portraying Trump as more concerned with cutting back. taxes for wealthy Americans like himself and hit his plan for aggressive tariffs effectively like a middle class tax hike.
His strategy is carried out through television and digital campaign ads, policy rollouts and speeches, and Harris’ new media blitz designed to tie his biography to his economic vision — for example, recalling his mother’s struggle to buy and own a home. offers a $25,000 loan for first-time home buyers. His running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, argued in a recent debate that Trump’s economy was weak even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Top Democrats are sharply focused on the economy after being burned by the issue in recent elections. Some defend Hillary Clinton lost ground emphasizing Trump’s character over the economic message. And exit poll It showed Joe Biden underperforming in polls in 2020 against Trump in handling the economy with a deficit. Now, party strategists believe the economy will carry the day among narrow but important swing voters in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nevada.
“If I had one piece of advice: They need a much, much stronger and more detailed economic message,” said Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis. “Talking about dreams, hopes and wishes is not a message. “The economic issue is still Trump’s main advantage and one of the only reasons this race is so close.”
Still, Harris is doing better than Biden on the economy against Trump. He put proposals for cost reduction front and center, breaking away from Biden, who focuses more on macroeconomic gains; That has fallen on deaf ears for many middle-class and low-income voters, who are still feeling the pinch of high prices more than low unemployment or record-high stocks.
Recently NBC News survey It found Trump had a 9-point lead over Harris on managing the economy — down from the 22-point lead he held over Biden earlier this year. A Cook Political Report In late September, a swing state poll showed Harris trailing Trump on “getting inflation under control,” though Trump still leads by 5 points on voters preferring to “get on with the economy.” A New York Times/Siena College National Survey A report released Tuesday found the economy to be the No. 1 issue affecting likely voters, followed by abortion and immigration.
Harris unveiled his latest policy plan on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday, hitting both economic and health care issues with calls to expand Medicare to cover long-term care and home health aides for middle-aged voters, particularly women over 50. . — those caring for both children and elderly parents.
“When my mother was sick, I took care of her. He was diagnosed with cancer,” Harris said. “And it’s a personal experience for me, but also something I’m very interested in.”
As Harris ramps up his media appearances, one Democratic strategist said he would do well to deliver “tight and forceful” answers about the economy at every opportunity. The aide, who spoke candidly about Harris on the condition of anonymity, added: “He has this instinct to go on a word salad and he doesn’t need to.”
Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt disputed Harris’ argument that he would be a better steward of the economy.
“President Trump is trashing Kamala Harris on the economy because she is a business person with a proven track record of economic success from her first term in the White House,” Leavitt said in an email. presidency.
He attributed post-pandemic inflation to “socialist spending sprees” and said Trump was the candidate who would “make America affordable and wealthy again.”
Harris allies say that while he has improved on Biden’s stance against Trump on managing the economy, it is still not enough to ensure he wins the presidency.
“He’s still underwater on the economy. … There’s still work to be done,” said Alyssa Cass, chief strategist at Blueprint 2024, a Democratic party that surveys key voting blocs. “I think fighting the issue head-on will get him there,” he said, noting Harris’ strengths on other issues, such as abortion.
“A final message focused on lowering prices by going after corporations and cutting middle-class taxes with a focus on protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicare. [Affordable Care Act]allowing him to close the gap between prices that currently exist,” he said.
Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg said she has conducted focus groups with gullible voters and that some voters who can’t stand Trump personally are open to him because of the economy.
“People almost always say, ‘I hate him, but’ or ‘I like him and’ – ‘but he did a good job on the economy,’ ‘The economy is better under him,'” he said. “It’s kind of a permission structure for people to support Trump because they know they’re not going to like him and they’re not going to vote for him because they know he’s some kind of bad guy.”