Forget who was talking about this the other day, but downtown Portland is definitely a ghost town. At least the parts I've seen on this trip.
Kinda spooky.
Digging a bit more into that NYT/Sienna poll. Besides the top line national number with Trump showing in the lead, there are some very worrisome numbers in here if I am in the Kamala camp...
- 46% of voters have a favorable view of Trump, higher than both 2016 and 2020
- When asked who is trusted to handle the issues most important to you, voters gave Trump a 7 point edge over Harris
- 50% of voters say Trump is "not too far left or right" while only 32% say he is "too conservative". For Harris, 44% of voters say she is "too liberal or progressive" with only 42% saying she is moderate
- 63% of voters say they want the next president to bring "major change" from the Biden administration. 56% of voters say Harris represents "more of the same" while 61% of voters say Trump represents change
- 31% of voters say they need to learn more about Kamala Harris while only 12% say the same about Trump. This represents the possibility that Harris's poll numbers may have room for larger movement than Trump's numbers
- 54% of voters say Trump is a "risky choice" as president; 52% say the same about Kamala. Certainly doesn't align with the prevailing media narrative
- Speaking of narratives, for all the talk of how Trump is a "threat to democracy", Kamala Harris only leads Trump by 5 points when asked who would do a better job to maintain democracy
- Despite recent news stories attempting to suggest otherwise, Trump holds a commanding 16-point lead over Harris on trust to handle economic issues; he holds a 9 point lead over her on immigration; she holds a 15 point lead over him on abortion
- 55% of voters say Kamala Harris shoulders either "a lot of" or "some of" the blame in regards to rising prices; 63% say the same about the border; 49% say the same about the withdraw from Afghanistan