Harris Succeeding in Trump's Strongest Area: The Economy

An Echelon Insights survey of 1,005 registered voters, released September 25, also suggested Harris was more trusted than Trump to do a better job on the key issues related to the economy and voters' finances.

The economy is considered the most important issue for voters in any election. Previous polling indicated that Trump was considered the better presidential candidate for the economy, first over President Joe Biden, and then Harris.

Harris has pushed her own economic platform since she became the Democratic presidential candidate. This includes the vice president's "opportunity economy" strategy to help lower the cost of everyday goods, and extending the child tax credit to $6,000 for families for the first year of their child's life.

The Biden-Harris administration has seen the country be hit with decades-high levels of inflation as well as record-breaking gas prices. Gas prices have since fallen, and inflation dropped to a three-year low of 2.5 percent in August. The U.S. unemployment rate is also lower than the long-term average.

The Harris Poll/The Guardian survey gave respondents a list of 12 economic proposals - six from Harris and six from Trump - and asked them to select which ones they agreed with. Those taking part in the survey were not told whose campaign each policy belonged to.

The results showed that four of the five most popular economic policies were Harris'.

The most popular was Harris' proposed federal ban on price gouging of food items (44 percent).

It's always interesting to note how those who don't OD on politics every single day - like we do - see the campaigns and hear their messages. Turns out that the most popular economic policy from either campaign is the one most derided by beltway right wingers as either "communist" or "socialist". The general public doesn't quite see it that way, and perhaps they understand the many existent state laws already on the books and in use - in both red and blue states - that makes it illegal to price gouge consumers in times of emergencies and sees a federal law as something equally logical and sensible.

Hopefully, Harris and Walz will keep articulating their economic pitch and point to its likeability in blind taste tests to further erode any notion that Trump's economic ideas aren't exactly like his healthcare plan to replace the ACA - basically non-existent and unrelated to what the average American wants nor needs.