Can Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump? Latest poll updates

Vice President Kamala Harris is making a bid for the White House with running mate Tim Walz after replacing President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket just a few months before Election Day.

But with the Democratic National Convention underway in Chicago this week, a new poll suggests that voters are not convinced on Democratic policy approaches; even as independent voters creep towards the left.

So how will Harris actually fare against Donald Trump and his vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, this November?

Harris now has a 2.8-point lead over Trump in the latest average of national polls, collated by FiveThirtyEight. On average, Harris has been marginally ahead of Trump in national polls, though the race remains tight.

A new Morning Consult megapoll of 11,501 registered voters even has Harris +4 points ahead, at 48 percent of the vote to Trump’s 44 percent.

This poll shows that independent voters are also leaning more towards Harris, though there has been significant variation between different surveys of the elusive voter group.

Capturing the independent vote will be crucial for either Harris or Trump to take the lead in this election. This is the most likely group to vote for Robert F Kennedy Jr., with 1 in 10 independents currently saying they will vote for a third-party candidate.

It remains to be seen what would happen if RFK Jr. drops out of the race, but as it stands, Harris may be slowly carving out a small lead among independents.

Meanwhile, exclusive polling from Savanta showed that voters still trust the Republican Party more to handle major policy issues like the economy, inflation, jobs, and crime.

Of the top five issues on the ballot, the Democrats only lead on healthcare, despite the fact that Harris