National

Have Trump and Harris done enough to explain their policies? What voters said in poll

About half of Americans, 49%, believe former President Donald Trump has sufficiently explained his policy proposals, while 37% believe Vice President Kamala Harris has adequately explained her proposals, according to a new poll.
About half of Americans, 49%, believe former President Donald Trump has sufficiently explained his policy proposals, while 37% believe Vice President Kamala Harris has adequately explained her proposals, according to a new poll. Photos from Kamala Harris, Donald J. Trump, Facebook

Most Americans believe Vice President Kamala Harris has not sufficiently explained her policy proposals, according to new polling, which comes just weeks before the election.

In the latest Suffolk University/USA Today poll, 57% of respondents said Harris has not “done enough to explain the specific policies she would pursue in the White House.”

A significantly smaller share, 37%, said the vice president has done enough, and 5% said they were undecided.

In contrast, about half of respondents, 49%, said former President Donald Trump has done enough to describe his policy agenda, while 48% said he has not and 2% said they were undecided.

Conducted between Oct. 14 and 18, the poll sampled 1,000 likely voters throughout the U.S. It has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.


More politics news

What were the top issues for Election Day voters? What an early exit poll found

Trump to return to White House after 4 years. Only one past president has done that

How did LGBT Americans vote in election? Exit poll finds significant shift from 2020


The poll also asked respondents whether Trump or Harris would do a better job handling six issues: the economy, immigration, abortion, foreign policy, health care, and hurricanes and other disasters.

Trump held an advantage greater than the margin of error on the economy, immigration and foreign policy.

Harris, on the other hand, had an edge on abortion, health care, and hurricanes and other disasters — though her lead on the latter issue was within the margin of error.

Additionally, respondents were asked whether Trump or Harris would do a better job bringing about change, providing strong leadership and healing the nation’s political divisions.

Trump had a 3-point lead in providing strong leadership, while Harris held a 2-point lead in bringing about change and a 17-point lead in healing the nation’s political divisions.

The poll also found that, in a two-way match-up, Harris leads Trump by a single point — 49% to 48%.

Similarly, in a five-way match-up — which included Jill Stein, Cornel West and Chase Oliver — Harris again holds a one-point advantage over Trump — 45% to 44%.

Respondents were also about evenly split when they were asked who they thought would win the election — with 43.8% saying Trump and 43.2% saying Harris.

Read Next
Read Next
Read Next

This story was originally published October 21, 2024 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Have Trump and Harris done enough to explain their policies? What voters said in poll."

BR
Brendan Rascius
McClatchy DC
Brendan Rascius is a McClatchy national real-time reporter covering politics and international news. He has a master’s in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in political science from Southern Connecticut State University.
Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER