Harris an elusive election target for Trump

Harris an elusive election target for Trump

[NFA] Republican President Donald Trump's verbal attacks on a woman of color could further undermine his efforts to win female voters, and polls suggest the California Democrat and vice presidential candidate is viewed by Republican voters in a better light than presidential contender Joe Biden.

This report produced by Zachary Goelman.

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EXISTING GRAPHICS MAY BE OVERWRITTEN BY CLIENT’S OWN GRAPHICS BUT NO FURTHER EDITS ARE PERMITTED, INCLUDING FOR LENGTH**~ Joe Biden’s selection of Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate may present a new and difficult target for President Donald Trump, whose campaign has already struggled to find effective attacks against Biden himself.

The day Biden named Harris, Trump stepped up to the podium and called her, quote "the meanest, most horrible, most disrespectful of anybody in the U.S. Senate." And he tried to paint her as a far-left progressive.

But the usual Trumpian broadsides might not harry Harris.

There is little evidence at the moment that suggests that the public views the former prosecutor and California attorney general as a radical.

In fact, a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week before she was named as running mate showed Republicans like her even more than they like Biden.

21% of registered Republican voters -- that's over one-in-five -- said they have a favorable impression of Harris, compared with only 13% who had a similarly favorable view of Biden.

More concerning for Trump: Attacks that could appear sexist or racist against the first Black woman on a major party ticket in U.S. history undermine his effort to shore up his standing among suburban women.

This demographic rebelled against Republicans in the 2018 primary.

But Trump on Tuesday wasted no time repurposing his 2016 smear - "nasty woman" - of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, calling Harris "extraordinarily nasty." Privately, however, Trump’s aides acknowledged Harris would be a formidable adversary.

The president even admitted as much last month.

One senior White House official said that the Harris pick means Vice President Mike Pence would have a tough debate in October.

In the Senate, she's made a former Attorney General squirm.

Her background as a tough-on-crime prosecutor could protect her from attacks as anti-cop - even as she's staked out a strong stance on police reform this summer.

During her presidential bid, Harris was fiercely criticized by progressives who viewed her prosecutorial record as overly supportive of law enforcement.

She has since become a vocal supporter of progressive criminal-justice reforms.