Poll: Harris may bolster Biden with women, Republicans

Poll: Harris may bolster Biden with women, Republicans

[NFA] A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Biden's choice of running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, is more popular than he is with female voters, and even one in four Republican voters approve of Harris as a vice presidential pick.

This report produced by Zachary Goelman.

Democratic voters overwhelmingly support Joe Biden's choice of running mate.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll out this week shows nearly nine out of every 10 Democrats approve of U.S Senator Kamala Harris as their party’s vice presidential nominee.

And the survey shows she is more popular than the presidential candidate among women, young voters and even some Republicans, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday (August 12).

That support could shore up the Democratic electorate in key voting blocks ahead of a November contest that could be fought down to the margins in a few key battleground states.

Among women, 60% have a favorable view of Harris, compared with 53% who felt the same way about Biden.

Women are the dominant force in American elections: they make up a bigger proportion of the U.S. electorate than men, and a surge in support for Democrats among white, college-educated women helped the party retake the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018.

Donald Trump derided the decision to select Harris, pointing toward her conflicts with Biden when both were competing for the presidential nomination.

But Trump's attacks on Harris is unlikely to boost his already-low standing with female voters.

And he's continued to use dated and sexist terms for women, tweeting Wednesday (August 12) that he would win the "suburban housewife" vote and on Thursday (August 13) attacking a news anchor as a "ditzy airhead wife." Harris's popularity extends beyond her gender.

Among younger voters, under 35, she's two percentage points more popular than Biden.

And among Republicans, 25 percent - one in four - said they had a favorable view of Harris.

The poll showed Biden’s lead over the Republican president ticked up slightly, increasing by 1 percentage point among all Americans to an 8-point advantage.

Forty-six percent of U.S. adults said they would vote for a Biden/Harris ticket, while 38% would vote for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.