②Must present economic policies including tackling inflation
③No tangible results on illegal immigration issues
④Internal division within the Democratic Party related to Middle East conflicts
⑤Must withstand Trump’s verbal attacks
Average of 111 nationwide polls shows Harris surpassing Trump
In order to sustain the current momentum, Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate in the United States, must overcome five key challenges such as dealing with the media, economic policies, the crisis in the Middle East, illegal immigration issues, and internal division within the Democratic Party.
According to the political news outlet Politico, the first challenge for Harris is to demonstrate her ability to respond to the media without a script. She has not held any interviews or press conferences since Joe Biden withdrew from the Democratic presidential race on July 21, drawing criticism from the Republican candidate Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance.
While Harris mentioned plans for her first interview in mid-September, specifics have not been disclosed yet. There are discussions about Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, conducting a joint interview before the Democratic National Convention starting on the 19th.
The second challenge revolves around economic issues, particularly inflation. Harris promised to strengthen the middle class and lower prices, but voters generally perceive the economic policies of the Biden-Harris administration negatively. Polls show that voters believe Trump would handle economic issues better than Harris.
The third challenge is the issue of illegal immigration, where Harris has not achieved significant results in reducing poverty and crime in Central American countries, seen as root causes of immigration. Republicans blame Harris for the expanding problem of illegal immigration.
The fourth challenge involves the Democratic Party’s internal division over conflicts in the Middle East and Israel. Supporters of a pro-Palestinian stance view Harris as more favorable towards Palestine than Biden but have not been openly critical. Pro-Palestinian supporters disrupted Harris’ campaign speech in Michigan on the 7th and are expected to protest during the Democratic National Convention.
The question of whether Harris will maintain Biden’s Middle East policies or heed the demands of pro-Palestinian supporters poses a complicating factor.
The fifth challenge is Trump’s aggressive verbal attacks. Trump has been verbally attacking Harris similar to his attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016, targeting her race and gender. Harris’ campaign and the Democratic Party condemn these attacks but focus on sending their own message rather than engaging in a defensive battle.
Harris’ rising popularity is evident in various polls. According to 111 nationwide polls, Harris leads Trump with 47.6% support compared to Trump’s 47.3%, marking the first time Harris has surpassed Trump in national polls since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate. When Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Trump led the Democratic candidate by 2.3 points.