Pollster Frank Luntz was interviewed on CNN by anchor Sara Sidner where he explained Kamala Harris is solely responsible for voters not knowing who she is and what her policy position are.
When Kamala Harris was first interviewed by CNN’s Dana Bash only a few months ago, she was asked what her first day in office accomplishments would be where she ambiguously responded to “strengthen the middle class.” At that time, Frank Luntz criticized the response for being so vague and lacking detail. Only a few days out from election day, Luntz believes that she hasn’t accomplished any further detail or clarity on her positions and the voters remain uneasy.
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“The momentum is clearly, in what I see and what I hear, is in [former President Donald Trump’s] favor and so every word, every phrase, every misstep, every gaffe, matters as those last remaining persuadables make their decision,” Luntz said. “I don’t believe in the undecided anymore, I don’t believe there is undecided, I think the only question is do you actually come out and vote if you don’t like either candidate? Because that is the vast majority of persuadables. People who don’t like Trump’s attitude, don’t like his persona. People who aren’t still sure what Harris will do in the first day, first week, first month, first year.”
Sidner responded that Kamala Harris “has explained that over and over,” Luntz replied “correct” however her messaging and outreach to voters has been extremely poor.
“If voters haven’t heard it, that’s what matters. It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear. And if they’re still asking the same questions, then she hasn’t said that enough, or she hasn’t said it clearly,” Luntz said. “In Donald Trump‘s case, you and I may feel that it’s offensive, you may feel that the things that he says is wrong but in the end, if voters are willing to put up with that because they like what he did on inflation, they like what he did on immigration, that’s what matters.”
“The bar is higher for Harris because they don’t know her. The bar is lower for Trump because they saw him for four years and what he did, all the good the bad, everything and that’s the challenge for her,” he said. “In the end, I think she controls her destiny more than he does. We’ve decided what we think about him, we have still not decided when we think about her.”
Luntz also said that the polls haven’t reflected Joe Biden’s “garbage” comment yet and may influence the remaining undecided voters.
“The basket of deplorables was significant, was meaningful in 2016. In 2024, I can promise you that this is gonna drive Trump turnout,” Luntz said. “He’s doing it already … I’m sure there’s going to be ads on as soon as tonight about this. This may be a turning point for those final 3%, and that’s all it is, who still need to be persuaded.”