Why Trump Would Still Beat Harris Today

Donald Trump has been in office for more than 100 days and if there ever was a honeymoon, it’s definitely over. How is the president performing so far (in the polls)?

Dr. Louis Perron

I think he had a pretty good start into his second term, mostly because he looked for low-hanging fruits and acted fast—and speed is the name of the game nowadays. I think it very much matches the zeitgeist and the way the media functions.

After that, he got into trouble. He started too many fights at the same time. He created a lot of confusion with the tariffs. Uncertainty is never good, and of course, the stock market and the general economic outlook don’t help.

As a result of this, his job approval now stands at a historic low. According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, 50% of the voters disapprove of the job President Donald Trump is doing. In fact, no president in recent time has ever been so low in terms of job approval at this point in time of their presidency. Donald Trump beats his own record low job approval from his first term.

And even on issues that were once his strengths, such as the economy, Trump’s ratings are down (55% disapprove vs. 42% approve). He’s deeply under water on inflation (59% disapprove vs. 38% approve) and just about even on another former strength of his, immigration (49% disapprove vs. 48% approve). On foreign policy, his rating stands at 53% disapprove vs. 41% approve.

Clearly, voters don't like what they see.

At the same time, there were other polls discussed on CNN lately that showed that Donald Trump, despite everything, would still beat Kamala Harris and many other Democrats if the election were held today. And people are flabbergasted. How can this be? Well, it reminds us that in politics, everything is relative compared to your opponent. People rejected Kamala Harris and would likely reject her again.

It has only been 100 days, and if people would ever come to the conclusion that they made a mistake by voting for Trump, it would take much more time to admit it. But maybe they don't think they made a mistake. And it seems like that they really didn't want Kamala Harris.

I also think that Democrats are not helped by Harris and Biden doing high profile speeches recently. As for the party in general, Democrats don't look to me like they learned their lesson. And the lesson is, as has been famously said: "It's the economy, stupid." Democrats need to develop an appealing economic message. They should focus like a laser on inflation and tell people how they would make things easier for the middle class to put food on the table and pay the bills. As I wrote in my own post-mortem for Newsmax after the election, it’s the economy, now, forever and everywhere.

About the author:

Dr. Louis Perron is an expert political consultant & advisor, campaign strategist, scientist, and TEDx speaker based in Switzerland. His track record includes winning dozens of election campaigns worldwide, from big city mayors to presidents. Click HERE for more info on Dr. Perron