As the 2024 presidential election campaign reaches its final stretch, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are working hard to increase their voter support. The polls still show an incredibly close race. Recently, CNN’s data reporter, Harry Enten, examined various indicators that point to potential victories for both candidates. He acknowledged that despite his thorough research, he couldn’t find conclusive evidence that would support either candidate. However, he did point out some important factors that made him believe Harris might win next week.
On News Central, Enten highlighted that Harris has consistently outperformed Trump in popularity and boasts a stronger net favorable rating. He stated, “The number one sign is that Harris, simply put, is more popular than Donald Trump.” On X (formerly Twitter), he reiterated, “If Harris wins, the signs were clear as day. ” As reported by HuffPost , Harris holds a net favorable rating of -2 points, while Trump sits at -7. Enten, after analyzing polls stretching back to 1956, noted a consistent trend that the candidate with a higher popularity score tends to claim victory.
He said, “Sixteen times the more popular candidate has won. Only once, the less popular candidate has won. I will note that was Donald Trump back in 2016. But of course, remember, Hillary Clinton was quite unpopular herself.” He further argued, “So the bottom line is, Kate, a lot of Democrats believe when voters vote, they win. And with abortion being a much bigger issue this time around than historically speaking…when it was in 2022, Democrats did well, perhaps Democrats will surprise a lot of folks and do well come next Tuesday.”
Part II: If Harris wins, the signs were clear as day. 1. She has a higher net favorable rating than Trump, & the more popular candidate almost always wins. 2/3. Post-Roe: When voters vote, Democrats win. See special elections & 2022 midterms, when Dems did historically well. pic.twitter.com/wbrsVdMuep
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) October 31, 2024
Additionally, Enten also reviewed special elections in 2023 and 2024 and revealed that Democrats have been outperforming President Joe Biden ‘s 2020 margin by 2 points. He stressed, “Remember Joe Biden won, so the fact that these Democrats are doing better than this…is a good sign.” Data from FiveThirtyEight also showed that Harris’ net favorability was rising, at -1.5 points, while Trump’s was falling, at -8.4 points. Similarly, RealClearPolitics showed Harris’ net favorability at -3.2 points and Trump’s at -6 points, as reported by Newsweek .
Meanwhile, election expert and historian, Allan Lichtman, who is well-known for correctly predicting nine out of the last ten presidential elections, has also predicted that Harris/Walz will win next week. In a recent discussion on his YouTube channel, Lichtman cited Harris’s narrow leads in key battleground states and polls to back his claim. He further argued that the presidential election this time around has important ramifications for the future of democracy. As reported by USA Today , Lichtman’s only wrong prediction was that of 2000, when he predicted incorrectly that Democrat Al Gore would win.