Race Is On to Reach the Rapidly Shrinking Pool of Undecided Voters

Trump and Harris have both energized their parties. Now comes the hard part—persuading the holdouts.

By Aaron Zitner

Aug. 9, 2024 11:00 pm ET

After months of apathy, voters are coming off the sidelines in significant numbers and committing to one party or the other, leaving former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris to compete for a shrinking pool of undecided Americans—in many cases, the hardest voters to reach.

Most voters tend to “come home” to the party they usually favor by the end of a campaign. But the turbulent events of the past month have sped up the process. The attempt on Trump’s life, President Biden’s withdrawal from the race and the selection of running mates have energized the core voters within each party and helped Harris erase Trump’s previous lead.

Now the two campaigns face a different challenge. The election will be decided by a small set of voters who will be tougher to persuade, as they haven’t yet tuned into the campaign or still don’t like what they have seen from either candidate.

Six weeks ago, Wall Street Journal polling found that 28% of voters were “up for grabs” and not fully committed to any candidate. By late last month, only 15% were up for grabs, a sign that many voters had settled on their choices.

WSJ Poll Shows a Tight Race Between Harris and Trump

WSJ Poll Shows a Tight Race Between Harris and Trump

WSJ Poll Shows a Tight Race Between Harris and Trump

Play video: WSJ Poll Shows a Tight Race Between Harris and Trump

A new Wall Street Journal poll looks at voters’ views on Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee. Here is what the numbers say. Photo illustration: Cam Pollack

In another measure that partisans have committed to the nominees, both Trump and Harris now have the support of about 93% of members of their own parties, a particular improvement for Democrats. And both Trump and Harris are viewed more favorably than at any point in almost two years, the most recent Journal survey found. Positive views of Harris among voters overall rose markedly in late July from early in the month, up 11 points, to 46%. Positive views of Trump increased 4 points, to 47%.

This leaves the parties with the task of persuading voters such as Todd Ellingson, a self-described Reagan Republican in the battleground state of Georgia, who feels that both candidates are unacceptable.

“Neither one of them has done anything to reassure people who weren’t 100% in their camp, anyway,” said Ellingson, 61, a computer programmer in Woodstock, Ga., who backed Trump in 2020. What Ellingson has seen lately, including the selection of running mates, has only fortified his decision to leave the presidential line on his ballot blank.

Ellingson saidhe thinksTrump’s ticket mate, Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio), has been open to raising taxes, which he finds to be disqualifying, and that Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, Harris’s running mate, “is way too liberal” for him. Ellingson sees both choices as efforts to mobilize the parties’ core voters rather than to reach those in the political center, leaving him frustrated and puzzled.

“Really, does nobody want to win this election?” Ellingson asked. “It’s like neither one of them wants to win.”

Of the 15% of voters whom the Journal polls designate as up for grabs, only a minority live in one of the six or so battleground states that will determine the Electoral College outcome. These voters are either undecided on a candidate, say they are likely but not definitely backing Trump or Harris, or say, at least for now, that they will back an independent or third-party candidate.

Journal polling suggests that Trump has advantages among them.

More than half of these voters approve of the job that Trump did as president, compared with 20% who give Harris a positive job rating as vice president. Only 12% say Harris is better able to handle the economy than Trump, while 61% say Trump is the better economic steward. Similarly, these voters rate Trump as more adept at handling immigration, crime and foreign affairs. They also say the phrases “cares about you” and “shares my values” apply more to Trump than to Harris, though by narrower margins…(these polls are BS, but because it WSJ, they expect is to believe this)

(WSJ owned by the Murdochs are pretending its closer than it is. Murdochs hate Trump, they were forced to embrace at the end of 2016. It's all bullshit but we have to Vote, Vote, Vote and win the Fight. Who else came out today or yesterday say they were a Reagan republican, yes you got it. Traitor Pence)

https://archive.is/audlt