Biden And Harris Both Cite The Economy As A Success — But Voters Believe Harris More

WASHINGTON — The same economic statistics, essentially the same economic message — the only difference is that Vice President Kamala Harris is having considerably better success selling them to Americans as she runs for president than did her boss and the sitting president, Joe Biden.

Both point out that the economy is in far better shape than when they took office in early 2021, when the country was still emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. Both point to the benefits of legislation such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Both agree that more needs to be done to lower costs for food and housing.

Yet when Biden was still running for reelection, Americans gave his handling of the economy a rating in the 30s, which accounted for much of his polling deficit against GOP rival Donald Trump, the coup-attempting former president who was recently convicted of multiple felonies.

Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out in July, in contrast is polling much better on that same issue, eliminating most of Trump’s advantage.

What had been a 14-point gap between Biden and Trump on who would better handle the economy in a USA Today poll from June is down to a 6-point gap, 51% to 45%, among likely voters in one released Tuesday.

“Packaged differently and different messenger,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, who has campaigned on behalf of both Biden and Harris in the past several months. “And she just sounds more relatable on the struggles of families.”

Sarah Longwell, a Republican political consultant and Trump critic who has been conducting focus groups of Trump and Biden voters for years, said part of the difference is that Harris is simply better at