A new poll suggests that Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election, may have actually hurt her chances in his home state, deep blue Minnesota.
Minnesota outlet KSTP ran a poll of 635 likely voters, which found that Harris’ lead over Donald Trump in the state has significantly lessened since she tacked Walz on as her VP at the Democratic National Convention. She now leads Trump 48% to 43%, while previously her lead stood at 50% to 40%.
Notably, the poll included more Democrats than Republican respondents, with Democrats making up 40% of the sample, Republicans 35%, and 22% independents.
Additionally, only 52% of Minnesota voters view Walz as an excellent or good choice, with 12% saying he’s a fair selection, and 34% saying he’s a poor pick.
49% of the men interviewed approved his selection, while 50% opposed it, and 40% of men viewed him as a poor choice running mate. Additionally, of voters under 35, 49% viewed Walz as an excellent or good pick, while 51% viewed him unfavorably.
Harris also leads by 18 points among women, 55% to 37%, while Trump leads among men by six, 48% to 42%.
“She’s in good shape in Minnesota, and frankly, the Democratic and Republican conventions happening, adding Tim Walz to the ballot, everybody’s paying attention now, right? So if I was those guys, I’d be excited to be up by five points in Minnesota,” said Former Minnesota DFL Party Chair Mike Erlandson. “Women in this country, particularly in the swing congressional districts and the districts that are closer to 50-50, make all of the difference.”
“I think you see in the national polls that Kamala Harris is getting sort of a post-convention bump,” says Brian McClung, communications director for former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. “So the opposite has occurred in your SurveyUSA poll, but I think this is where we expect the race to be.”
Harris and Walz have already faced significant criticism since their announcement that they would be running on the same ticket. Most recently, both were criticized for their joint CNN debate, during which Walz was likened to an “emotional support animal,” as he in large part quietly sat there and allowed Harris to speak.
“It shows an extreme lack of confidence for Kamala Harris to need an emotional support animal in her running mate for her first campaign interview since becoming the nominee,” said CNN contributor Scott Jennings.
Harris also took flak for repeatedly claiming during the interview that her values “have not changed,” despite repeatedly contradicting herself by throwing support behind border security and suggesting that she would not ban fracking, and had said during the 2020 election that she did not support a fracking ban.
“I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020, that I would not ban fracking. As vice president, I did not ban fracking. As president, I will not ban fracking,” she claimed during the interview.
The claim was fact-checked by the National Review, among other outlets, which confirmed that Harris had, in fact, said that Biden would not ban fracking, but never turned back from her initial stance on the matter.
“I will repeat, and the American people know, that Joe Biden will not ban fracking. That is a fact. That is a fact,” she said at the time.
The New York Post noted Harris has backed away from several of her previous views on issues like eliminating private health insurance, decriminalizing illegal immigration, banning fracking for oil and gas — a major job sector in Pennsylvania and other states — as well as banning the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
“Her answer rambled incoherently, and declared her ‘values haven’t changed.’ On that I agree, her values haven’t changed,” Trump said of the interview, before suggesting that under Harris, “America will become a WASTELAND!”
Source: Resistthemainstream
