Harris promises change — but poll shows voters see her as another Biden

Kamala Harris is running on a campaign promising change, heralding a “new way forward” at last month’s Democratic National Convention. But the data shows voters are not convinced that the vice president is all that separate from incumbent President Joe Biden, according to exclusive polling from Savanta.

Over half of registered voters (56 per cent) believe that Harris’s policy platform will be significantly similar to Biden’s, compared to 7 per cent who feel the same about Trump.

Just a third (30 per cent) believe her policies will be different, according to the post-debate poll of 2,000 Americans.

Over 4 in 10 voters (41 per cent) believe that Harris has had a significant influence over the current administration’s policy positions, compared to 26 per cent who believe she had little influence. Meanwhile, voters are split (37 per cent each way) as to whether Harris’s impact as vice president has been positive or negative so far.

What’s more, a third (35 per cent) of voters believe that Harris had “more or much more” influence over Biden’s policies than previous vice presidents in history.

“The challenge for Kamala Harris is that she is attempting to frame herself as the ‘change’ candidate, while in the eyes of many of the public, her victory would simply mean more of the same,” says Emma Levin, associate director at Savanta. “That is an issue for the Democratic candidate for president, as voters are broadly unhappy with the current direction of travel for the US.”

When specifically asked which policy approaches from the Biden administration could “hurt” or “help” Harris, most issues did not lend a helping hand to the Democratic candidate.

Savanta reserach analyst Ethan Granholm explains: “Voters see Harris as having a