Harris Plans New Ad on Economy to Counter Trump’s Edge on Issue
(Bloomberg) -- Vice President Kamala Harris is launching a new ad across all seven battleground states that pledges to crack down on what she calls corporate price gouging and touts her proposed tax cut, as the Democratic presidential nominee looks to continue narrowing Republican Donald Trump’s polling advantage on economic issues.
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The ad blitz will focus on Harris’ pledge to build the middle class and highlight how her proposed tax plan would benefit families with children, particularly infants, according to a campaign official who detailed the plans on condition of anonymity.
“You may not always agree with me, but I promise I will do everything I can to lift up the middle class and be a president for all Americans,” Harris says in the new ad, which continues her outreach to disaffected Republicans. It warns Trump will give “more tax breaks to the wealthy.”
Polling by Bloomberg News and Morning Consult shows Harris has narrowed the gap on economic issues in her race against Trump, who maintained wider margins on the questions when President Joe Biden was his opponent.
In a poll released Wednesday, 50% of respondents said they trusted Trump more on the economy, while 44% said Harris. The six-percentage-point gap was up from five a month earlier. But, in early July, the same poll found Trump leading Biden 51% to 37% on the same question — a gap of 14 percentage points.
Democrats believe that Harris’ messaging — and particularly her promise to crack down on price gouging — has resonated with voters still reeling from post-pandemic inflation.
In the poll against Harris, Trump led on certain specific indicators, like who is trusted more to manage the stock market or interest rates, while she led on others, like personal debt and housing costs. Trump led by only a point on the cost of everyday goods, 47% to 46%, which has been a key headwind for Harris.
Trump has seized on voter frustration over Biden’s economic record to assail Harris, arguing that the vice president should have done more to address high prices and concerns over jobs during her tenure in office.
His campaign on Thursday pointed to polls highlighting Trump’s edge on the issue, including a CNBC All-America Economic Survey that found voters saying they would be better off financially if the Republican nominee wins by a 42% to 24% margin.
Trump and Harris are jockeying over economic issues ahead of an expected sprawling tax negotiation in Congress next year, one forced by the looming expiry of several provisions of the Republican nominee’s tax reforms from his first term. The outcome will depend both on the presidency and the balance of Congress.
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