On Tuesday, CNN network data analyst Harry Enten offered his take on former Vice President Kamala Harris’ political viability as she embarks on a promotional media tour for her memoir, “107 Days.”
According to Enten, Harris continues to struggle politically among the American public.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, joining us now to discuss, or at least look at the numbers, because he is our chief data —
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Guy.
SIDNER: Correspondent.
ENTEN: Analyst. Whatever you want, Sara.
SIDNER: Reporter. Analyst. However I want to call you. Or friend.
ENTEN: There we go. I like that, chief friend.
SIDNER: Maybe — maybe today. We’ll see. Harry Enten here.
So — so how are — are voters viewing Harris these days? And, to be clear, she — this book has just come out. She’s done an interview on NBC with Maddow. She did an interview on “Good Morning America.” She — we’re going to hear from her here today as well. What — what are people thinking about her as this starts to come out?
ENTEN: Yes. I would just say that if you want a messenger to go against Donald Trump, you could do far better as Democrats than Kamala Harris. What are we talking about here?
Well, let’s take a look at her net favorable ratings nationwide. You know, back in October of 2024, she was at minus five points. Not exactly great, but pretty close to the zero mark, right? Pretty close to even. But now, down under she goes. She’s at minus 13 points. That’s an eight point drop since the general election among the overall electorate. She is not well liked at this particular point. The American people, they don’t want this. They don’t want her.
And get this, she’s 27 points underwater with independents. If you can’t win independents, you can’t win the election.
And the bottom line is, with those in the center of the electorate, those who are the most up for grabs, she is way, way, way underwater. She is definitely swimming with the fishes.
SIDNER: So, that’s overarching, right, looking at the whole country. What about Democrats in particular? Where does she stand with Democrats?
ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, what about the political base that is Democrats? Well, why don’t we talk here? All right, top choices for 2028 Democratic nominee. Now it’s still really early, but I think this really tells you that over the last few months Democrats have really sort of put Kamala Harris on the back burner. What are we talking about?
So, back in April, she was — 28% of Democrats said that she was their top choice for the 2028 nominee. Look at where she’s dropped. She’s dropped by nearly ten points since April, only 19% now. She was 20 points ahead of Gavin Newsom back in April. And now the two of them are in a dead heat. In fact, she’s actually two points behind Gavin Newsom, though that’s within the margin of error. But when you go from 20 points ahead of Gavin Newsom to two points behind, it’s clear that Gavin Newsom is doing something the American — the Democratic Party and the Democratic voters want, and Kamala Harris ain’t doing that.
SIDNER: And this also, when you look at that number, like gives a lot of space to a lot of other people that might want to jump into the race.
ENTEN: Sure.
SIDNER: Let’s talk about her home state, which is, obviously, a state that is a Democratic state. How — how are they feeling about Kamala Harris?
ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, voters nationwide ain’t liking what they’re seeing from Kamala Harris. Democrats are far more open to other options for 2028. But how about in the home state? Well, it pretty much says the exact same story.
Californians on Harris’ runs for president. Back in 2024, she got 58% of that vote. Now, only 42% of Californians are excited for another run for Kamala Harris for president. So, no matter where you look, whether you look nationally among voters overall, nationally with Democrats or within her home state, Kamala Harris’ political standing has fallen.
Now, obviously, we’ll see whether or not this book has any big changes. But at this particular point, Kamala Harris’ political career, time seems to be running out on it.
SIDNER: Yes. I mean she’s been pretty quiet, and now she’s sort of back on the stage, the national stage. So, we’ll see sort of what happens with those numbers (INAUDIBLE), right?
ENTEN: That is why we track the numbers. And we come in every morning.
SIDNER: Yes. Every morning. And we appreciate you.
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