SEATTLE - Having a favorable view among the public is always important for a presidential candidate or for any individual running for office. But in 2024, this could prove to be even more crucial as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump could be in for a very tight race on Election Day.
With two weeks to go until Americans go out to vote, both Trump and Harris are in a race against time to lure more voters to their cause. But according to a recent poll, both candidates are not necessarily viewed in a good light by the general population.
A recent poll from Gallup revealed that about half of U.S. adults rate Trump and Harris positively on a 10-point favorability scale. But as the poll revealed, the percentage of people that see them in a good light puts them on the lower end of what Gallup has measured dating back to 1956.
The results of the poll are based on an Oct. 1-12 Gallup poll that asked Americans to rate the two major-party presidential nominees on a scale ranging from +5 to -5, something the group has done in all presidential election years except for 1988, 1996 and 2000.
For the first time in Trump's three presidential campaigns, his favorability rating among the American people did not hit below 50% positive. Exactly half of the respondents said that they had a favorable image of Trump, compared to a 47% in 2020 and a historic low of 36% when he first ran for office in 2016.
On the other hand, although Harris has been a breath of fresh air for the Democratic Party after she replaced President Joe Biden as the nominee, only 48% of respondents have a favorable opinion of the current Vice President of the United States.
When Biden ran for office in 2020, the then-Democratic nominee gathered a favorable opinion in 54% of respondents. Ever since Gallup has kept track of a candidate's favorability during the 1956 presidential elections, only Harris, Trump (2020 and 2016), Hillary Clinton (47%) and Barry Goldwater (43%) did not reach the 50%+ positive threshold.
In recent elections, Americans have been less charitable in their ratings of the nominees. Among the 12 nominees since 2004, only Barack Obama, John McCain and George W. Bush have reached the 60%+ positive threshold.
Partisanship effects
As it would be expected, partisanship has an effect on how positive a candidate is seen by the general public. The highly positive ratings of Trump and highly negative ratings of Harris primarily come from Republicans, and vice versa.
Both candidates receive similar ratings from their own party's supporters, with Trump scoring 68% while Harris gets 72% among Democrats. However, Trump gets more highly infavorrable ratings than Harris from the opposing party, 80% to 71%, respectively.
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